Project News

The 3rd public technical seminar on " Innovation on Production and Automotive Utilization of Biofuels from Non-food Biomass" was held on the 19th November at Miracle Grand Hotel in Bangkok.

This annual seminar aims to share the progress and outcome of research in the project with not only researchers of the project but also all the parties involved in Biofuels so that it will hopefully contribute to the technical advancement of Biofuel production and its utilization.

More than 150 people participated in the seminar this year, which was approximately 1.5 times over last year.

The number reflects how much this project's achievements, such as development of high quality biofuel H-FAME, and partially Hydrogenated Fatty Acid Methyl Ester, have impressed the audience.

As a delegate of the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency stated in her keynote speech, the Thai government has an action plan to increase the ratio of biofuel mixed in biodiesel in a step-by-step manner.

Production of high quality biofuel is necessary to achieve the government's action plan. The Thai government has already adopted BTL (Biomass to Liquid) technology as a method to increase the biofuel ratio, however H-FAME offers its potential to supplement the market needs.

This technical seminar consisted of four sessions:

• High Quality Biodiesel/ Engine Performance Evaluation; Technical results and conclusions from the 50,000km on-road test using an Isuzu vehicle fueled with B10, a 10% blend of H-FAME from Jatropha oil developed and produced in the project in diesel
• Challenges for Bio-oil; Research on production of bio-oil from Jatropha residues and its upgrading
• Environmental Impact/ Technology Transfer; Life Cycle Assessment and Feasibility study of Jatropha H-FAME
• Panel discussion on raw materials, commercialization and future direction

These sessions provided an opportunity for an active exchange of information and views on Biofuels from Non-food Biomass.

Our research activities will continue by incorporating insights obtained in the seminar.

Researchers, representatives from PTT and Tripetch Isuzu sat down together and discussed from various perspectives.

Keynote speech of Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency

Guests from various fields

Project members from 2 Japanese and 3 Thai organizations