by jean63 » 23/05/06, 21:01
With me it works ...... without advertising displayed; maybe it comes from the fact that I am registered in the stock market just to participate in forums and that he "recognizes" me but I do not believe. Try to connect to bourseorama.com and in the news list you will find it by asking more ...
Here is the text ==>
Associated Press the 23 / 05 / 2006 17h52
Asia is awakening to biofuels
Green energies to lighten the oil bill. Against the backdrop of soaring oil prices, Asia, in the midst of an economic boom, is gradually converting to plant-based biofuels such as jatropha (medicine), sugar cane and palm trees in order to reduce its growing dependence on crude imports.
In India, jatropha is used to produce biodiesel that is envisioned as an alternative energy source for trucks and power plants. The Indian government hopes to reduce consumption of conventional diesel by 20% in five years by exploiting this plant from the euphorbiaceae family. He identified an available area of 39 million hectares where jatropha could be grown.
"We have discovered that we can produce biodiesel from this plant. If we can produce it at low cost, the future looks bright," said RK Malhotra of the Indian Oil company's research center.
For the moment, alternative fuels are still little used in Asia, in most cases representing less than 1% of the fuels consumed. And according to experts, it will take years, even decades, before their use becomes widespread.
However, "every country in Asia is trying to market biofuels," said Conrado Heruela, a specialist in renewable energy at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
There are two main types of biofuels. First, ethanol, produced mainly from corn in the United States and sugar in Brazil and Asia, and used mixed with gasoline.
Biodiesel is obtained mainly from rapeseed oil in Europe, vegetable oil in the United States and palm oil, coconut or jatropha in Asia. It is used mixed with conventional diesel.
Jatropha is favored by India, Indonesia and the Philippines. Its seeds are crushed to produce a yellowish oil which is then refined.
Jatropha has the advantage over other plants that it can be grown anywhere and thus avoids encroaching on land used for agriculture. The Indian government claims to have successfully run dozens of trucks and buses with biodiesel made from this plant. If his plans materialize, biodiesel containing 5% jatropha should start to be sold at the pump in 2007.
In Thailand, King Bhumidol Adulyadej decided to set an example: his car runs on palm oil and he has been touting the merits of this green fuel for twenty years. Hundreds of gas stations in the capital, Bangkok, sell gasoline containing 10% ethanol.
Australia, Thailand and India also use sugar cane to produce ethanol, while the Philippines and some Pacific Islands are turning to coconut oil for electricity and biodiesel.
Malaysia, the world's largest producer of palm oil, has authorized companies to produce biodiesel for export, mainly to the European Union. In some countries, there is even interest in more unexpected alternative energies: beaver oil or cow manure.
In China, the government is promoting ethanol and developing nuclear, hydroelectric and solar energy. In India, half of motorists drive on petrol mixed with 5% ethanol and the authorities would like to increase this figure to 20% over the next decade.
The fact remains that biofuels are not a panacea according to some experts, who believe that the energy spent on their production will be greater than that saved by their use. For their part, environmentalists denounce Indonesia's plan to convert a vast expanse of tropical forest on the island of Borneo into oil palm plantations. AP
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Only when he has brought down the last tree, the last river contaminated, the last fish caught that man will realize that money is not edible (Indian MOHAWK).