According to Chandra Prasad Pokharel, associate faculty member at Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), Nepal will never have to suffer from petroleum shortage if it embraces production of bio fuel through agro products and wastes.
"Hundreds of tons of agricultural wastes are left to rot across the country when it can easily replace the daily shortage of fuel crisis. Now it's time for the government to rethink upon this prospect without hesitation and further delay," said Pokharel.
A recently published research work 'The Potential of Bio-ethanol Production in Nepal' prepared by fellow researchers Ram Kailash Prasad Yadav of Central Department of Botany at Tribhuvan University, Pokharel himself and few other researchers have tried to answer this equation of need and demand through an intensive research.
The report states that residues produced from various agro-industries in Nepal can produce about 57,841 KL (kiloliters) of bio ethanol.
Bio fuel produced from agriculture products and wastes can be in two forms -- liquid and gas.
"An alternative of fossil fuel, biomass resources that include liquid fuels such as ethanol, methanol, biodiesel and gaseous fuels such as hydrogen and methane are the best resources for bio fuel production," said Pokharel.
"As for our research, we have found that sugarcane industries of Nepal and the produced residues can easily fulfill the need of petroleum. Moreover, this organic fuel has no side effect to the motor engines, rather it is more efficient," he added.
The team had studied sugarcane bagasse, green and dried leaves of sugarcane, solid waste residues of paper, green stem of tobacco and fresh biomass from Indu Shankar Sugarmill in Sarlahi, Everest Paper Mill in Dhanusa, Surya Tobacco in Bara and Himalayan Brewery in Godawari, Lalitpur.
"Indu Shakar Sugarmill alone produces over 65,029 tons of dry biomass annually. From this collection, more than 18,203 KL of bio-fuel can be produced. In the long run, it can suffice over 10 percent of Nepal's annual fuel demand," said Pokharel.
When one industry can meet such demand, there are at least 10 sugarcane industries running across the country. However, such potential and rich resource of bio-fuel has always been sidelined by the government.
Lack of investment, technology transfer and proper policy and regulations in producing bio-fuel have always overshadowed its market in Nepal.
"One of Nepal's agendas in the upcoming COP21 Paris Meet is transfer of technology. If we succeed in bringing in the funds and invest much in technology, the part of bio-fuel production should not be missed at any cost," said Pokharel.
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