A group of Japanese investors want the Lao government to develop a bio-diesel policy and build new infrastructure to attract foreign investm ent in the sector, according to a senior energy official.
The Director General of the Energy Department of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Mr Vilaphone Vilavong, said yesterday that the Japanese entrepreneurs had indicated to him that they were interested in investing in bio-diesel production in Laos , but would first require more established guidelines for the industry before making investment decisions.
The investors know that Laos has significant bio-diesel potential, but they need to know more about government policy on the sector, for issues relating to tax charges, for example.
“In many countries, including the US , the government offers tax exemptions on bio-diesel, to encourage investors to develop this new source of energy,” he told Vientiane Times.
Mr Vilaphone said the Japanese investors also wanted the government to develop more infrastructure for the bio-diesel industry, such as roads leading to plantations of the fuel's main raw materials, and modern factories with technical experts.
The investors were adamant that every government must invest in infrastructure first, to initiate bio-diesel investment. This must be the incentive for investors to initiate projects and carry on by themselves, he said.
The invest ment in the production of bio-diesel was considered expensive compared to oil drilling, which only requires the installation of machinery.
“Bio-diesel production, on the other hand, needs farmers to plant the crops, agricultural experts to advise the farmers on how to protect their crops from insects and to get high yields, and thousands of hectares of land to grow crops as raw materials,” he said.
But although investment costs are high, Mr Vilaphone said this energy source had a bright future; while oil deposits are slowly being depleted, it is now necessary for governments around the world to find alternative sources of energy.
“Once all the oil has been used, people will have no choice but to use bio-diesel instead.”
Mr Vilaphone said the Japanese investors had advised him that if the Lao government did not have enough funds to develop its policy and infrastructure, it could request assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Laos .
The agency has a policy of assisting countries worldwide in finding alternative sources of energy, and would be interested in helping Laos in this quest, he said.
He confirmed that he would discuss with the sectors involved as to how to go about cooperating with JICA in this regard.
By Ekaphone Phouthonesy (Latest Update November 16,2007)
I hope lao government won't do anything to promote this so-called bio-diesel Bio-diesel is one of the worst idea human ever had!
1- the ecological balance is not really (or very little) in favour of bio-diesel: produce bio diesel from agro-products need lot of energy 2- but the most important is the social and economic impact. What do you do now with land? you produce food... something that every human being, even the poorest absolutly need. What do this industrial propose? Replace food production with diesel production. ARE THEY CRAZY? we can live without diesel... it will be hard, but we can (we can also imagine some technology like electicity to make the car run). BUT WE CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT FOOD.
If you replace a part of the food production with gas/diesel production, you'll make the price of food rising, because food will be more rare. This mean only rich people would a able to eat properly! Others can die. And even for rich people it will be harder and harder to pay for food. Bio-diesel are a real EVIL! don't fall into this trap
The only hope comes from second generetion bio-diesel. Made only with the part of the agro-product that we don't use...Japanese start to develop this technology with rice. But i talked about this with my wife, and she said: "not bad, but you know, in laos we use all part of the rice : we eat the best one (grain), but wee also feed the pig with the other par, or burn it to cook food". So it seems this idea doesn't solve anything. The only good solution is making bio-gas with real rubbish: used cooking oil from restaurants, pig **** (not for bio diesel, but other kind of bio-gas), but the possible production via those products is certainly very limited.
Laos has no natural gas like in U.A.E or other Arab countries. The price of oil increase every month. I do support Laos to produce bio-diesel to feed her own population, but I do not agree to produce bio-diesel and export to other country as this will cause a lot of problems especially the food shortage and environmental problem in Laos as a whole like Paris_Vientiane has mentioned above.
But although investment costs are high, Mr Vilaphone said this energy source had a bright future; while oil deposits are slowly being depleted, it is now necessary for governments around the world to find alternative sources of energy.
“Once all the oil has been used, people will have no choice but to use bio-diesel instead.”
Why would you think too far? Now the oil is still available, don't just believe what people talk, even they are Japanese, American or French. You need to do economic comparison.
Yes, if the farmers can earn much more than that they work in the rice field from these investors. If yes, we may think about that. From these money they can buy food. Otherwise, I am afraid nobody would come to work in this project. Yes, in some countries their people never plant food, but they are rich. They can do a good job. They can earn lots from their work.
I don't think that this project would effect to food production. Laos has lots of land for food production. That doesn't mean that they will plant the crops in the rice field. On top of that food production also can be imported, if Lao people can earn lots of money from this project.
I dont agree with this idea of a large scale investment. why not go for solar energy which has been proved successful in local areas, if u may recall this kind of project in Laos.
2/3 of lao population still live in poverty and the main concern is food security NOt REALLY the energy security in the forseeable future.
increasing invesment in food production is a must, not bio diesel!
Solar energy technologies are not very efficient yet... solar panels are still very expensive regarding the amount of energy they can produce. But as China begin to invest a lot in such techology, we can hope to have better solar panels in the next years. So... maybe in 10 years, but not yet for a huge deployment.
On the other side, solar thermal energy is very good to warm water. I know many lao people still use cold water for shower and washing dishes/clothes, but a warm shower is much more comfortable, and use warm water for washing is more efficient and safe. More and more lao people buy electric water heater. I think there is a real opportunity to develop solar water heaters in Laos. This technic is simple, very reliable, and not too expensive. Of course, such systems cost much more than electric one when you buy it, but after, it doesn't require any electricity to work... so the overall cost is very low.
Laos develop it's industry and comfort.. so, even if everyone make some efforts to optimise electricity consumption (and everyone HAVE to do it), Laos will need more and more electricity. Carefully develop hydroelectric plants is certainly the best solution for the moment. Laos have a huge potential in this domain, and if project are carefully engineered and selected, the environmental impact of such electricity production can be clearly acceptable. This is a way Lao autorities choose and i think it's a good one. Laos should just be carrefull to not go "too far" in this way, because its a dangerous way: if you build too many dams, without care about the consequences for environment and river flows, the result can be humanly dramatic! (example: never accept any dam over Mekong directly)
Do Laos have some strong wind in some places? i don't know, but it's also something to think about: wind can produce energy too.
The big big problem is gas/petrol. - some country use gas/petrol to make electricity: there are many other solutions to produce electricity. use the few gas we have left for this is certainely not a good idea
- we need gas for transportation (planes and cars). For car, 1) that's a responsability of everyone. DO NOT BUY a car that need lot of gas ! Buy small cars, maybe less luxury and comfortable, but those cars are cheaper, can provide near the same service as big one, and need much less gas. Use less energy is also a way to reduce de energy problem. 2) everywhere in the world, new cars are developed: electric with batteries, hydrogen, compressed air motors... there are many solutions, not totaly ready yet, but don't worry, in a few years, it will be ok... no need bio-diesel for cars for sure For planes, there is not many solutions : just use modern bigger planes for long distances travels (that use little bit less gasper mile per passenger), and trying to avoid plane for short distances (
