Bioethanol in Thailand, A Road to Growth in Bioenergy Globally
The demand of fuel, particularly bioethanol, in Thailand is likely to be higher, thanks to the expansion of the numbers of vehicle in country. The trend, however, has made competition in global bioethanol market more intensified. Bioethanol global production has gone from 101 billion liters to 119 billion liters, according to a Krungsri Bank’s document. This means that farmer, entrepreneurs, and those manufacturers in the industry must be prepared and be ready to boost their capacity and quality of product in order to compete in the market. Praj, an engineering company from India with expertise in bioethanol market, has offered technologies for Bioethanol Plants in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries for more than two decades. Here, we are with Mr. Atul Joshi, Regional Manager at Praj, covering the business in Southeast Asia, revealing the company’s points of view towards the current situation in the market and forecast how its future would be.
Technology Can Retain Thailand’s Leading Position in Bioethanol Market
Mr. Joshi says that Thailand is one of front runners in the bioethanol market in Southeast Asia. The country is producing 1.5 billion liters this year, compared to just 500 million liters of ethanol 10 years ago. That means that Thailand has trebled its bioethanol production in past decade. Its government also set the target of bioethanol production to 3 billion liters by 2026 with their Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP). He says that Praj is ready for the goal, thanks to its leadership in Technology and also with a strong foothold in Thailand with their 12 plants in the country and 50 plants located in the South East Asian region. This could make his company participate in Thailand’s market improvement plan in the years to come
“Praj, is a part of this journey of Bioethanol development in Thailand and would like to continue to be a part of this journey all along the next decade by offering its technology and engineering expertise.” said Mr. Joshi.
The answer to the development plan is nothing other than technology. Mr. Joshi says that he is expecting Thailand to have a similar growth in the second generation bioethanol market as the previous era. Because of the company’s expertise in bioethanol engineering, it can offer state-of-art technologies like it has done before for Thai market for second generation ethanol production also. Praj has built its own 2nd generation bioethanol plant in India and it is operating on bagasse, rice straw and corn cobs. This second generation bioethanol based on non-molasses / sugarcane feedstock can boost the Thai Bioethanol industry in the coming years to mitigate the feedstock challenge for the industry.
The company has gained trust from many Thai clients such as Khon Kaen Alcohol, Thai Suger Ethanol, KI Ethanol, Sap Thip, Double A Ethanol, Thai Alcohol and Thai Roong Ruang. This doesn’t include a long list of customers in other countries of the region from Vietnam, The Philippines, to Australia.
