I have been looking into the use of ethanol fuel as an alternative to the àlmighty petrol and i have come across some interesting discoveries. Ethanol fuel is derived from sugar-cane or maize but apparently ethanol from maize is better. Ethanol fuel is environmentally friendly considering the issue with effects of global warming and unfortunately africa as a continent is most at risk from the detrimental effects of global warming and i think it is in africa this issue is given the least priority.

In Brazil which is an emerging market little better than nigeria about 90%  (i think) of their automobiles run on ethanol fuel. Agreed this is a technology for the future and not intended to replace petrol soonest but there is a lot of money to be made if you can find the funding and the right contacts. Remember that fossil fuel -petrol reserves have limited life-span.

If this technology is embraced will it lead to the hiking in price of maize which is a constituent of the  staple diet of many nigerians.

I welcome contributions from those who have some knowledge or are conducting research into this area or some consultancy-level input so we can push this forward. Somebody raised the idea of recycling waste on this forum a whileago there is a lot that can be synergised between waste recycling and ethanol as an alternative source of fuel.

Let me know what you think

there are many issues that affect the viability of ethanol as a fuel

1. for temperate regions (US, EU) maize is the preferred feedstock to produce ethanol, it requires extensive energy and fertilizer input, which results in producing almost as much CO2 emissions as crude oil/petrol

2. almost the entire arable land mass of the US will be required to produce ethanol to displace even half of current petrol consumption based on maize cultivation, with attendant food price increases, imcreased pollution due to fertilizer run off and other issues.

in the long run, ethanol is only a suitable alternative for some niche markets like Brazil and a few others due to the lower cost of production (only one step from sugarcane to ethanol, unlike 2 steps from maize (starch) to sugar then ethanol)

it cannot effectively replace petrol in most markets, because the attendant costs will be huge. it only serves to paper over the real issues concerning fossil fuel use and allow certain car manufacturers to claim their operations are 'green'

@ naijacutie,
Best of all in ur exams 2morow!
There is ungoing research into using ethanol fuel in Nigeria.Lets see what will come of that,

I think it's utter silliness for an oil and gas and sunlight rich country like Nigeria to be considering ethanol.

its not siliness, in certain areas where sugar cane cultivation is very viable, (northern states like Jigawa, Taraba and Kwara) it will be more cost effective and employment generating to provide about 50% of their fuel supplies through sugar cane cultivation and processing. It will also insulate them (to an extent) from any shocks resulting from a sudden refinery shutdown or port problems.

any serious nation in the 21st century must broaden its energy mix to suit its different locations, using sugarcane/ethanol is in the end also using solar energy, sugarcane is a far better (and cheaper) converter of solar energy than any cells/panels will be for Nigeria for the next 20 years.

Seun

Nigeria does not have 50% of oil that US has, yet alternate feul is the emerging technology here in the States. We are not talking of having oil here we are talking of health risk. Global warming is not a joke, besides Africans don't have the technology for it's present and future effect. I wouldn't necessarily advocate for ethanol in Nigeria, I believe we have enough sunlight to sustain ample solar energy, that's the technology we should put more effort into exploting. I think the earlier we get on it the better for us and the generations coming after us.

Naijacutie

Go ahead and knock them dead tomorrow. All str8 AAAAAAAAs you deserve it and more success.

hmm, lets see, people are hungry and would surely love some maize. the idea of ethanol can't work here. A better alternative would be hydrogen fuel cell technology

JAMAICA has already been using Ethanol in automobiles and machinery that uses petroleum.

fuel cell technology is highly expensive and unaffordable without huge subsidies, we have lots of arable land not properly being cultivated, a small proportion of our fuel needs (for the northern states for example) could be met by ethanol, produced from sugar cane, not maize. maize is too expensive and energy intensive as well as a staple food source to be used for fuel production.

@ Rits Nigeria may not have '50% of the US oil' but our consumption is nowhere near theirs as well. the global warming issue is one of prime concern, and we should start to see what we can do to arrest that. In remote locations where it is uneconomical (Without wasteful subsidies) to use petrol such as in most of the north, ethanol production on a small scale should be encouraged.

@naijacutee
all the best in your exams. Go and break a leg!

@seun
The problem is the oil. Sunlight and natural gas which we have in abundance are environmentally friendly alternative sources of energy. Fossil fuel is the major culprit when we are talking of environmental pollution. Anything that will reduce our dependence on fossil fuel is welcome. Like some people have suggested ethanol production can be vaible in certain areas of the country especially in the north where a great proportion of the land mass can be put to better use for renewable sources of energy.

There is Bio-diesel which is environmentally friendly and can be made from recycled cooking oil. How much cooking oil do we throw down the drain after using it?. There is money to be made in this alternate technology it just needs resesearch and some funding in the initial stages wherever that is either in nigeria or abroad

Global warming is no joke and the earlier we start thinking of environmentally friendly alternative sources of energy the better for us and the generation coming after us

Thanks for your contributions so far well thought out and enlightening.

To buttress my point pls read this------------->http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/suntech/2007/may/30/suntech-30-05-2007-001.htm

The point is that this initiative needs to be thought-thru properly and come up with a sound business plan/proposal. Its not a bandwagon that anyone can just jump on like many other things. This is emerging technology and the business case is obvious so if we do something the potentials in terms of returns are almost endless. Keep your contributions coming and let us conclude with sometning tangible that we can move forward with.

from sunnewsonline.com

A young Nigerian, Husainin Solomon, has risen up to the challenge to satisfy quest of the mobile telecommunications operators’ quest for cheap oil in the country by producing bio fuel as a cheap and green alternative fuel to power base stations.
The pilot scheme is being funded by the GSM Association Development Fund, Ericsson, together with MTN Nigeria.
Olabode Sowumi, head of Corporate and Marketing Communications of Ericsson, West and East Africa, explained how the bio-diesel process works.
"The bio diesel is produced from crops that are rich in oil like groundnut, soya bean, palm oil and so on. A local entrepreneur can buy excess of the crops from farmers and convert the biomass into bio diesels, using special processing plant. The bio diesel is then sold to the telecommunications operator."
Behold! Sustaining Solomon has emerged as the first local entrepreneur to buy into the idea of bio fuel and invest his time and money in the business.

Convinced of the value propositions of the idea, Solomon approached Diamond Bank Plc, and the bank promptly invested a whopping N20 million in the idea, under its Bright Idea initiative.
Solomon, who spoke with Daily Sun in an exclusive interview, argued that the bio fuel idea can help solve the hydra-headed issues of power supply in the country.

Read the rest @:
http://sunnewsonline.com/webpages/features/suntech/2007/may/30/suntech-30-05-2007-001.htm

I'm quite glad to read this thread!

But I must confess that I'm really encouraged in my Biofuels quest through the posts in this forum.
As someone rightly said business plans have to be sound and properly written.

I can confirm that and will like you to know that I started working on this biodiesel project as one of the options I have as a final year project since last year. I have dealt with the options I have in RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES and have pitched my tenth with biodiesel and solar.
I chose solar for my final year project(can't go into the details of the project) but decided to venture into biodiesel production.

I made a biodiesel processor purchase from UK some weeks ago and will begin production as soon as it arrives in August 2007. It costs alot of money, but one can break even in less than a year if one plans well.

I must let you all know that Nigeria has great and abounding opportunities in the power and energy sector if only favourable government policies will be put in place. One of such is the decentralization of power generation and distribution, domicilliation of services in the same sector thereby promoting development and research in respective engineering fields within the country.

Apart from my plan to produce biodiesel from used and fresh oil, I have short,mid and long term goals of expanding soon into agriculture(producing Jatropha Curcas), and also manufacture of biodiesel processors even in Nigeria.


I have got my designs and technology which are thorough, sound and very economical. We have what it takes to automate the production equipment by programming & designing PLCs/PICs. All the raw materials are available here.
As you know automation helps to reach break-even point quickly we only have to pay the price for it's initial cost.
(I'll be willing to speak in person with anybody coming from an investment angle on my biodiesel project, I'll let you have access to my business plan and all the feasibility studies/financial projections if you meet up with certain requirements.-my phone no. 08024611363)

I'm weighing my options also, I don't know which financial house to approach on this laudable projects/proposals. I don't want to approach diamond bank because they've done something similar before.

I'm presently in my final semester at the University of Lagos and don't wish to chase any oil company around for any job.

They might be able to pay me for spending some time, but the real and precious value of our youthfulness is been exploited by these big companies.
If only we can sit down and apply ourselves to meaningful and innovative thinking on meeting and servicing people's needs, a wonderful and billion dollar idea will be born.

Please my fellow graduates THINK CREATIVELY AND WITH A HEART TO SERVE MANKIND.

Great Ideas don't come to greedy men willing to dominate others but to the noble and humble in heart.


My contacts please for any one that cares: exploits777@yahoo.co.uk, 08024611363

adewaleafolabi:

hmm, lets see, people are hungry and would surely love some maize. the idea of ethanol can't work here. A better alternative would be hydrogen fuel cell technology

Proton Electron Membrane (PEM) H2 Fuel cell  is a class of electro-chemical power source that has to be continously fueled with H2 in other to function. It functions by converting chemical energy directly to electrical energy with about (40% -60%) efficiency. Burning Hydrogen help reduces green house effect with less emmision of CO. Hydrogen production commercially is very expensive considering the detail economic analysis behind it. Either you are using a Steam Methane Reforming process (SMR) which is by the way the most feasible of all, Partial Oxidative Reformer (POX), AutoThermal Reformer or Electrolysis of Water. In my own opinion, the only way H2 Fuel Cell processes will be feasible in Nigeria in the nearest future is if there is demand for Hydrogen separately.

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Seun:

I think it's utter silliness for an oil and gas and sunlight rich country like Nigeria to be considering ethanol.

Why shouldn't we have an alternative to this oil and gas, Naija cannot live by fuel alone.

Besides fuel is hazardous to our environment.

The idea of maize is odd sha, its a main dish in naija, and its still not enough how we go do am

Would be nice to have an alternative to fuel.

The use of a common staple food like maize for ethanol production is something that has to be approached with caution in developing nations like Nigeria.

It reminds me of kerosene. The incessant scarcity of kerosene in our markets today can be traced back to the fact that it makes up for most of the fuel used in the aviation industry.

So much so that the NNPC boss went on air to say that kerosene is not meant for domestic use.

the kerosene issue is an apt example, more profitable use as fuel may end up driving food costs to extreme levels

though personally I don't think we should be using kerosene domestically, given the abundant gas reserves we have but that is a separate matter.

ethanol production - if done to achieve complete petrol replacement basis nationwide will cause food prices to rise and cause more problems than it solves, but if done sensibly in areas far removed from petrol distribution infrastructure, with available uncultivated/ potentially better cultivated land, it could serve as a driver to bring many rural communities out of poverty and stem rural-urban drift as well.

The preferred feedstock for Nigeria would be sugar cane, not Maize, since the sugar to ethanol conversion is easier than starch to sugar.

adewaleafolabi:

hmm, lets see, people are hungry and would surely love some maize. the idea of ethanol can't work here. A better alternative would be hydrogen fuel cell technology

I totally support you. Why must we follow-follow, we must do things that serve our interest. Fuel cell technology is a much better option considering the fact the Nigeria has a large Natural Gas reserve.

Interesting topic. But listen, can ethanol be derived from corn only? (why not other grains such as millet and such?) Just asking! And to think that Nigerian aspires to be among the best 20 economies by 2020. Not at all a bad idea, but consider other fuel sources before diverging to staples(could cause rise in cornflakes and pap!) Hey, shoutout to naijcutie in her exams, ace em girl and let 'em have it!

I'll reply y'all later on this topic. At school too and working towards exams,

Cheers!

Good idea cus Nigerian Oil will not last forever. But, our agic output is not fantastic either. Why don't we invest in nuclear/solar energy sources and electric cars instead.

dont let us deceieve ourself, na only 10% of world demand ethanol fit handle, accorng to estimate and research,

prize of corn is already going off the chats , increasing baby foods products and the rest, doesnt make sense jare

well said MP - ethanol is a bridging product at most - useful mostly in areas where conventional gasoline may not be available/ is more expensive

some oil companies also use it as a 'greening' smokescreen to deceive people that their operations are somehow cleaner.

to create agricultural jobs and employment? yes

replace gasoline? for the most part no

Ethanol is not planned to replace Petrol.what is being proposed is to use it as an additive so as to reduce fumes from petrol engines.It is going to replace MTBE which has been proven to cause ground water contamination.That is why there is so many configuration but the most predominate is E10(10% ETHANOL + 90% PETROL).E10 is what NNPC plans to introduce into the Nigerian market.To this end,modification is being carried out at the atlas cove jetty so that the project can commence.

go to www.oebaltd.com they can help u with ur recycling solutions