The Great Green Fuel Conversion

Malawi has taken up Brazil's lead and is now planning to switch from petrol to ethanol as the main vehicle fuel. Experiments on converting cars to run on this fuel have gone well and greater use of ethanol will be healthy for the economy. But is this campaign too soon and too ambitious? Lameck Masina reports from Blantyre. As the price of crude oil keeps on rising, the Malawi government has embarked on an ambitious drive to ensure that all vehicles in the country switch to the cheaper alternative fuel - ethanol - in a few years' time. Statistics show that the price of oil is 13 times higher than it was a decade ago.

The five-year $lm (Malawi Kwacha 140m) government-funded research project followed a directive from the cabinet that Malawi should explore other sources of fuel for vehicles. Jointly implemented by the Department of Science and Technology and the privately owned Ethanol Company of Malawi (ETHCO), the initiative is investigating the possibility of converting conventional vehicles - that use only petrol - into dualfuel vehicles - 'flexible-fuel' or 'flexfuel' vehicles that use either 100% locally manufactured ethanol, or a combination of ethanol and petrol in a single tank. Local scientists at Lilongwe Technical College (LTC), which falls under the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, examined appropriate ethanolfriendly parts to be fitted on the fuel system to convert petrol-fuelled vehicles into ethanol-fuelled ones. The college also conducted road tests with a vehicle running 100% on ethanol and has collected data on the performance of the vehicle during the road tests.

The researchers experimented on a Mitsubishi Pajero to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of ethanol-driven vehicles. The experiment had already started showing success.

The first test-drive was conducted in December 2006 when the ethanol driven Pajero covered a distance of about 350km from the capital Lilongwe to the northern city of Mzuzu while the second test took the Pajero from the commercial capital Blantyre to the southern district of Chikwawa in September 2007. The vehicle cruised at an average speed of 110km/h on ethanol with consumption at 8km/ litre. Official results had suggested that it was an outstanding technical achievement.

Freeman Kalirani, who leads the research team at the LTC, told African Business that the project is on the right track, "So far I have converted four vehicles. Two vehicles, a Nissan and a Mitsubishi, are running 100% on ethanol and the other two vehicles that are flextype are running on either petrol or ethanol or any mixtures of the two," he said.

He said that by May 2008, the Pajero had covered 18,000km and that no major component has been damaged in the engine. "I am happy to tell you that the vehicle performed far beyond our expectations. The tests have been very successful in that the vehicle managed to cover the set distances without any problems at all."

Kalirani said the research team would continue comparing the engine performance of ethanolpowered and petrol-driven vehicles to test and check on the long-term effects of ethanol on the fuel system of vehicles. He said the team would also gather data on the performance of a flex vehicle and build capacity for Malawians to maintain ethanol-driven or flex vehicles.

"What remains now is that we want to travel a little longer to have more kilometres covered so that when we tell the people that ethanol does not damage the engine we should be sure. When you listen to it one can't notice that it is running on ethanol - the only difference is the smell that comes from the exhaust which shows that it is ethanol," he said.

He explained that fuel consumption depends on the speed and age of the car, saying newer vehicles would consume between 10km/ litre and ISkm/litre. Until February 2006, all cars in Malawi used leaded petrol blended with 20% ethanol. Since then, the country has switched to unleaded petrol blended with 10% ethanol. Proponents of ethanol use have argued that continued over-dependence on fossil fuels has economic, social, climate and biodiversity impacts for humans and the entire ecosystem. Malawi's deputy director of the Department of Science and Technology, Kendron Chisale, told reporters in Lilongwe that a switch to ethanol would allow Malawi to comply with procedures aimed at emission reduction, as agreed by parties at the 2006 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi in November. "This will eventually mitigate climate change related disasters," he said.

Supporters of the project argue that the advantage of using ethanol as a renewable energy source would not only benefit the environment but also provide employment to Malawians in the country's sugarcane industry and save on foreign exchange lost through importation of petroleum products. Mathews Chikaonda, the chief executive officer of Press Corporation, the conglomerate that runs the only two ethanol producing companies in the country ETHCO and Presscane - told a group of local executives that had gathered to witness the second test-drive of a converted Pajero in Blantyre, that the introduction of ethanol-driven vehicles would have greater benefits for the country in the long run.

"Since ethanol is locally produced, the introduction of these cars will induce as a significant reduction in the amount we spend to import fuel. Besides, this will also increase levels of employment. More staff will be required at the refineries, in the transportation of the ethanol and at service stations. I believe it is a venture worth trying," he said.

He singled out Brazil, Malawi's role model in this endeavor, as a shining example of how ethanolpropelled cars have helped improve the economy.

Meanwhile the department of Science and Technology, in partnership with ETHCO, is promoting the importation of Brazilian 'flex-fuel' vehicles that can run on ethanol, thus the imminent introduction of ethanol at service stations across the country.

But critics had cautioned against over-enthusiasm, calling for continued research on how vehicles previously propelled by petrol can best be modified to use ethanol. They also warned that huge investments in production and installation of additional pumps would be required to make ethanol fuel available throughout the country.

Car owners received the development with caution. "Although it's a welcome development, it is too early to start celebrating. Let us be honest with ourselves and answer questions such as, 'are we ready to meet the demand once we abandon imported fuels?'An honest answer would be 'no' at this point in time," said a car owner in Blantyre.

A Mitsubishi Pajero was one of the cars taking part in Malawi's experimental bio-fuel programmes.

Ethanol production

Boost for sugarcane production

Following the apparently successful research project into switching vehicle fuel from expensive petrol to the far more affordable, and green, ethanol, the government now faces a critical challenge to expand its sugarcane production.

Malawi produces ethanol from sugar molasses at Dwangwa, In the central region lakeshore district of Nkhota-kota and Nchalo in southern district of Chikwawa.

Malawi has only two ethanol producing companies, Ethanol Company of Malawi (ETHCO) and Presscane Limited, both run by a private local conglomerate Press Corporation. Each of the factories has a capacity of producing 16m litres of ethanol a year.

However a new report says that the current total production level of ethanol by both companies is about 17.8m litres. ETHCO produces 7m litres of ethanol a year at its plant in Nkhota-kota, a town in central Malawi, while Presscane delivers 10.8m litres, from its plant in Chikwawa in southern Malawi.

The report says the production of ethanol is constrained by the low availability of molasses, a by-product of making sugar. But both companies have disputed this saying they have enough molasses for ethanol production at the moment. However the report adds that despite the decline in production, the current production levels signify that "Malawi has excess ethanol, which can be used locally as fuel In motor vehicles".

Meanwhile ETHCO had been providing all the ethanol that had been used for the ethanol-driven vehicles' experiments under its Biofuels Research Project free of charge. The gesture had been hailed as a good African example of public-private sector collaboration.

Chief executive officer of the Press Corporation, Matthews Chikaonda said there was a possibility that the two factories could produce ethanol at full capacity because there was room for expansion In existing sugarcane plantations at Dwangwa, Nchalo and Kaslnthula. But commentators expressed fears that this homegrown solution to rising fuel prices would come at another cost - such as the rise in food prices as a result of increased pressure on land.

Malawi has been using ethanol-blended fuel since the energy crisis in the early 1970s. Petroleum companies such as British Petroleum (BP) Malawi, Total Malawi and Chevron Malawi blend 10% ethanol with 90% petrol. Some ethanol is used for industrial purposes, such as in pharmaceutical;.

Economists say a switch to ethanol would also help Malawi save forex currently being spent on fuel imports. Statistics shows that between 1995 and 2000, Malawi imported around SOm to 90m litres of petrol each year, with the cost rising from J13m to $36.1m over the same period. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation had said in the first half of the year that a barrel of bioethanol In Brazil was half the price of a barrel of oil. The current price of crude oil is about $135 a barrel.

An ethanol industry would save the country millions in forex by reducing its fuel import bill.