Hoedspruit to get Biofuel Plant
JOHANNESBURG- The Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), a quasi-governmental body, has announced a R3.2 billion investment to establish two new South African biofuel projects.
Biofuel is a sustainable source of energy derived from plants that can yield ethanol or be further processed to produce an alternative source of diesel. South Africa is currently the world's seventh largest producer of ethanol from plants, which can be used to power specially adapted vehicles.
One of the projects will be near Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga and the other at Cradock in the Eastern Cape.
Both projects are at the detailed engineering study level. The studies are due for completion in September. Construction is likely to start in January. First production is set for early 2009, project leader Noel Kamrajh said yesterday.
The IDC funding parastatal is likely to take a 49 percent stake in both projects, with 25 percent warehoused for empowerment and community groups.
The remaining 51 percent interest will be taken by the CEF and outside partners, who are yet to be selected.
The plan is for the Eastern Cape project to use sugar beets to produce about 90 million litres of biofuel each year, and the Mpumalanga venture to make 100 million litres of fuel from sugar cane.
The IDC and CEF are also looking into the production of 150 million litres of biofuel made from sweet sorghum and sugar cane in Pondoland, which spans KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
A fourth project aims for production of 150 million litres of biofuel a year from maize in Ogies in Mpumalanga. Here the maize will be bought from local farmers or traders. The fifth project is to produce 100 million litres of biofuel from cassava in Makhathini in KwaZulu-Natal.
Kamrajh said this strategy would allow a mandate for blending ethanol into petrol at a maximum level of 8 percent.
This required the production of 1 billion litres of bioethanol a year and could contribute 1.3 percent to gross domestic product. These were sufficient incentives to kick-start the biofuels industry, according to Kamrajh.
The draft biofuels strategy proposed a 30 percent rebate on the fuel tax for ethanol, while the proposed rebate for biodiesel was 40 percent.
Kamrajh said that for the IDC's biofuels projects to succeed, there needed to be a 100 percent fuel tax rebate.
The IDC's biofuels projects would be viable at between $50 and $75 a barrel. An oil price below $50 would require incentives for the biofuel sector.
Biofuel is a sustainable source of energy derived from plants that can yield ethanol or be further processed to produce an alternative source of diesel. South Africa is currently the world's seventh largest producer of ethanol from plants, which can be used to power specially adapted vehicles.
One of the projects will be near Hoedspruit in Mpumalanga and the other at Cradock in the Eastern Cape.
Both projects are at the detailed engineering study level. The studies are due for completion in September. Construction is likely to start in January. First production is set for early 2009, project leader Noel Kamrajh said yesterday.
The IDC funding parastatal is likely to take a 49 percent stake in both projects, with 25 percent warehoused for empowerment and community groups.
The remaining 51 percent interest will be taken by the CEF and outside partners, who are yet to be selected.
The plan is for the Eastern Cape project to use sugar beets to produce about 90 million litres of biofuel each year, and the Mpumalanga venture to make 100 million litres of fuel from sugar cane.
The IDC and CEF are also looking into the production of 150 million litres of biofuel made from sweet sorghum and sugar cane in Pondoland, which spans KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape.
A fourth project aims for production of 150 million litres of biofuel a year from maize in Ogies in Mpumalanga. Here the maize will be bought from local farmers or traders. The fifth project is to produce 100 million litres of biofuel from cassava in Makhathini in KwaZulu-Natal.
Kamrajh said this strategy would allow a mandate for blending ethanol into petrol at a maximum level of 8 percent.
This required the production of 1 billion litres of bioethanol a year and could contribute 1.3 percent to gross domestic product. These were sufficient incentives to kick-start the biofuels industry, according to Kamrajh.
The draft biofuels strategy proposed a 30 percent rebate on the fuel tax for ethanol, while the proposed rebate for biodiesel was 40 percent.
Kamrajh said that for the IDC's biofuels projects to succeed, there needed to be a 100 percent fuel tax rebate.
The IDC's biofuels projects would be viable at between $50 and $75 a barrel. An oil price below $50 would require incentives for the biofuel sector.
Labels: development, hoedspruit
posted by Kruger2Canyons.com at
Monday, April 02, 2007
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