Japanese premier urges for greater use of biofuels: report

Tokyo (Platts)--2Nov2006

Japan's new prime minister Shinzo Abe has backed the country's plans to
promote the use of biofuels and Wednesday urged agricultural minister
Toshikatsu Masuoka to ensure that 10% of total domestic gasoline demand is met
with biofuels, according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
A designated panel comprising officials from the agriculture ministry and
others will be created to draw up by next spring a timetable for achieving
this goal, the Nikkei reported.
"To protect the environment, revitalize regional economies and energize
agricultural activities, the government will work on lifting the proportion of
biofuels in gasoline consumption," the report quoted Abe as saying.
Japan's gasoline demand stood at 61 million kiloliters (about 1.05
million b/d) in 2005, according to figures available from the Ministry of
Economy, Trade and Industry. However, Japan produced just 30 kiloliters of
biofuel as a test production in 2005, the Nikkei said.
Japan is moving towards ethanol and ETBE in line with the country's
commitment to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 6% from the 1990 level
between 2008 and 2012 under the Kyoto protocol. In an April 2005 cabinet
meeting, Japan also committed to consuming 500,000 kl/year crude equivalent of
biofuels in fiscal 2010 to meet the Kyoto protocol.
Meanwhile, Japan's environment ministry wants all gasoline sold in the
country to be replaced with E10, a 10% ethanol blended gasoline, by 2030, to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and boost supply volumes.
Currently, the environment ministry and the METI are seeking a budget
allocation for fiscal 2007-2008 (April-March) to conduct empirical research on
the introduction of biofuels.
As part of the research, the ministries want E3--a 3% ethanol blended
gasoline--to be introduced in southwestern Japan's Miyako island of Okinawa
prefecture in fiscal 2007-2008.
Separately, the Petroleum Association of Japan, which groups 10 refiners
across the country, decided earlier this year to consider using ETBE as a
blending component, starting with 20% of their total gasoline sales from
2010-2011.
ETBE or ethyl tertiary butyl ether is an oxygenated fuel than can be
blended with gasoline to make gasoline burn more cleanly. ETBE is produced by
mixing ethanol and isobutylene but it eliminates many of the historical
impediments to the greater use of ethanol such as increased volatility of
gasoline.
ETBE can be mixed into gasoline at the refinery itself, unlike ethanol,
which has to be blended in at the point of sale. However, ethanol availability
is limited globally, the PAJ has noted, with Brazil currently the sole
exporter.


 

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