ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, December 20:
To meet the soaring power demand, the Nepal Electricity Authority generates 49 MW of electricity in thermal plants by using fossil-fuel to supplement hydro-electricity. But if this could be done using domestically produced bio-diesel, it would not only lower the pressure on imported fossil diesel but also check Greenhouse Gas emission by up to 10,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
It is estimated that in December the Nepal Oil Corporation will bear a loss of Rs 560 million while importing traditional petroleum products from India.
The seeds of an inedible plant, Jatropha Curcas L, locally known as Sajiban, have the potential to produce bio-diesel that can be used in vehicles, for cooking, as well as for the generation of electricity.
Megesh Tiwari, research officer at Winrock International Nepal, said Jatropha seeds could be sold to thermal power plants or other industries.
“If a thermal plant uses bio-diesel about 4,000 kl of imported diesel will be saved and this could minimise NOC’s loss by Rs 18 million each year,” he said.
He, however, added that they were uncertain about the cost of commercially grown Jatropha or the price of the processed bio-fuel.
“But, if the consuming companies themselves grow the plants, it will certainly minimise the price of the yield and will be more cost effective,” he said, adding that the plant can be grown on wastelands and landless or extremely poor families would benefit if they take up growing these plants. “Introduction of bio-diesel will support long-term energy security and lessen fuel related economic losses,” he said.
Dr Jibendra Jha, chief of NEA’s Generation Section, said the bio-diesel would be a strong supplementary fuel that can be used to produce electricity at least during the dry period.
“I have heard about bio-diesel. I believe that it can help in running our thermal plants in the face of diesel scarcity,” he said, adding, “NEA would be happy to work with researchers who have been trying to use bio-diesel in energy production.”
He said the NEA had made a power purchase agreement for a similar plant around Bhairahawa some years ago but it has failed to generate electricity for NEA.
Currently, NEA has two thermal plants — the one in Hetauda uses diesel to generate 10 MW and the Biratnagar plant uses multi-fuel to generate 39 MW.
[ KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 21, 2007, Poush 06, 2064 ]
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Mix ethanol with petrol, save money!
Alternative energy
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, December 13:
Tired of queuing up for petrol for your vehicles? Imagine of something what nature has given to us and has dual benefits. It relieves us, to some extent, from waiting our turns in petrol pumps and also helps keep our environment clean.
It is more relevant now at a time when the Nepal Oil Corporation has been failing to meet the demand of oil and the rise in price of petrol in international market is going on.
Different plants can be turned into something, which you can add in your fuel tank as much as 10 to 20 per cent, without modifying the engine. It has been in practice in countries like the US, Brazil and Indonesia since a long time.
In our context, if treated properly, waste of sugar mills can produce a liquid named ethanol that can be mixed with petrol to run vehicles. It is cheaper than petrol, provides relief from petrol shortage, helps mange the industrial waste and keeps the environment clean.
“Waste of sugar industries is a source of molasses from which ethanol can be extracted,” said Om Bahadur Shrestha, the team leader of the research on ethanol-pe-trol blend for vehicles. He has recently done a research mixing sugarcane and etha-nol and successfully run eight cars and six motorcycles.
He said the use of ethanol he-lps emit less sm-oke. “If we run our vehicles with 10 per cent of ethanol and 90 per cent of petrol, the emission of the poisonous gas, CO, is reduced to 36.61 per cent,” he added.
As the NOC is not meeting the growing demand of petrol, any company which produces ethanol is going to make profit, he claims, adding that it is also going to provide a new market for sugarcane and create employment for farmers.
He urged the government to make mandatory laws for using etanol in its all vehicles and to cut the demand of oil.
Bhushan Tuladhar, the executive director of ENPHO, said that if all sugar mills start producing ethanol and market it in Nepal, the shortage of petrol will be considerably minimised.
According to him, some sugar mills have already produced ethanol but, since the government has no proper policy to promote it, they have exported the production to India.
[KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14, 2007, Mangsir 28, 2064 ]
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, December 13:
Tired of queuing up for petrol for your vehicles? Imagine of something what nature has given to us and has dual benefits. It relieves us, to some extent, from waiting our turns in petrol pumps and also helps keep our environment clean.
It is more relevant now at a time when the Nepal Oil Corporation has been failing to meet the demand of oil and the rise in price of petrol in international market is going on.
Different plants can be turned into something, which you can add in your fuel tank as much as 10 to 20 per cent, without modifying the engine. It has been in practice in countries like the US, Brazil and Indonesia since a long time.
In our context, if treated properly, waste of sugar mills can produce a liquid named ethanol that can be mixed with petrol to run vehicles. It is cheaper than petrol, provides relief from petrol shortage, helps mange the industrial waste and keeps the environment clean.
“Waste of sugar industries is a source of molasses from which ethanol can be extracted,” said Om Bahadur Shrestha, the team leader of the research on ethanol-pe-trol blend for vehicles. He has recently done a research mixing sugarcane and etha-nol and successfully run eight cars and six motorcycles.
He said the use of ethanol he-lps emit less sm-oke. “If we run our vehicles with 10 per cent of ethanol and 90 per cent of petrol, the emission of the poisonous gas, CO, is reduced to 36.61 per cent,” he added.
As the NOC is not meeting the growing demand of petrol, any company which produces ethanol is going to make profit, he claims, adding that it is also going to provide a new market for sugarcane and create employment for farmers.
He urged the government to make mandatory laws for using etanol in its all vehicles and to cut the demand of oil.
Bhushan Tuladhar, the executive director of ENPHO, said that if all sugar mills start producing ethanol and market it in Nepal, the shortage of petrol will be considerably minimised.
According to him, some sugar mills have already produced ethanol but, since the government has no proper policy to promote it, they have exported the production to India.
[KATHMANDU, DECEMBER 14, 2007, Mangsir 28, 2064 ]
Friday, November 30, 2007
Bio-briquettes can keep the winter at bay
ALTERNATIVE ENERGY
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, November 29:
Winter is already here but the Valley denizens have nothing reliable to heat up their rooms. With ever-increasing load shedding hours and the year-round shortage of LPG, using electric or gas heaters in not imaginable. But wait. There is a solution at your doorstep. You can go for something called bio-briquettes made of biomass, which produces maximum heat and almost no smoke.
One bar of bio-briquette can heat your room for nearly two hours just at the cost of Rs 15 to 20. A briquette stove however costs from Rs 700 to 1200. By using bio-briquettes, youwill be chasing away the chilly winter on one hand and helping to keep your city clean on the other. But one should be cautious while using bio-briquettes for heating purpose and ensure that the room is well ventilated.
In the capital, bio-briquettes are available in departmental stores and shops around hospitals, as the marketers presently intend to supply them for the purpose of generating heat for massage of newborns.
“We can produce bio-briquettes by using wastage paper, saw-dust and other parts of the garbage. We can generate energy and help the municipality to minimise the volume of waste side by side,” said Sanukaji Shrestha, the chief of the Foundation of Sustainable Technology.
He has developed a technology for producing bio-briquettes out of waste materials. But he does not produce them for commercial purpose. Instead, he teaches people from different localities on how to produce them and contribute solid waste management.
Bio-briquettes have not however been effectively marketed so far.
Integrated Development Society (IDS) has provided training on bio-briquettes in a dozen of districts. “We provide training to communities but most of them are not producing bio-briquettes commercially,” said Santosh Guragai, a trainer of IDS.
Nirmal Nepal, the director of Nepal Bio-briquette Company Pvt Ltd, said they will be focusing on marketing this winter.
[ KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 30, 2007, Mangsir 14, 2064 ]
Razen Manandhar
Kathmandu, November 29:
Winter is already here but the Valley denizens have nothing reliable to heat up their rooms. With ever-increasing load shedding hours and the year-round shortage of LPG, using electric or gas heaters in not imaginable. But wait. There is a solution at your doorstep. You can go for something called bio-briquettes made of biomass, which produces maximum heat and almost no smoke.
One bar of bio-briquette can heat your room for nearly two hours just at the cost of Rs 15 to 20. A briquette stove however costs from Rs 700 to 1200. By using bio-briquettes, youwill be chasing away the chilly winter on one hand and helping to keep your city clean on the other. But one should be cautious while using bio-briquettes for heating purpose and ensure that the room is well ventilated.
In the capital, bio-briquettes are available in departmental stores and shops around hospitals, as the marketers presently intend to supply them for the purpose of generating heat for massage of newborns.
“We can produce bio-briquettes by using wastage paper, saw-dust and other parts of the garbage. We can generate energy and help the municipality to minimise the volume of waste side by side,” said Sanukaji Shrestha, the chief of the Foundation of Sustainable Technology.
He has developed a technology for producing bio-briquettes out of waste materials. But he does not produce them for commercial purpose. Instead, he teaches people from different localities on how to produce them and contribute solid waste management.
Bio-briquettes have not however been effectively marketed so far.
Integrated Development Society (IDS) has provided training on bio-briquettes in a dozen of districts. “We provide training to communities but most of them are not producing bio-briquettes commercially,” said Santosh Guragai, a trainer of IDS.
Nirmal Nepal, the director of Nepal Bio-briquette Company Pvt Ltd, said they will be focusing on marketing this winter.
[ KATHMANDU, NOVEMBER 30, 2007, Mangsir 14, 2064 ]
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