Zimbawe sits on eight million litres of ethanol

Government last year introduced mandatory petrol blending of 90 percent petrol blended to 10 percent of ethanol.
The introduction of the E10 was followed by regulations to legalise the process following the completion of the massive $600 million Chisumbanje Ethanol Plant.
The petrol blending, which is estimated to help Zimbabwe save $200 000 worth of petrol imports per day, was further enhanced when the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority issued licences for petrol blending.

Zimbabwe is set to save at least $72 million per year through petrol blending.
In an interview, Energy and Power Development secretary Mr Justin Mupamhanga, said a number of petrol companies have been licensed to blend petrol with ethanol.
“The regulator, ZERA has issued a number of licences for petrol blending to such companies as Greenfuel and several others.
“While we have not been advised of any resistance by oil companies to blend their petrol, we are aware that some of them have not acquired the licences.”

Mr Mupamhanga said Government introduced petrol blending, which is common in many industrialised countries, to bring security of supply in the country.
“Ethanol blending would augment fuel imports in the country and since we would be using 10 percent ethanol, it would mean an equal amount of foreign currency saved.
“Although we are not yet at the E10 levels, we would be contributing significantly to improving our environment,” he said.

Mr Mupamhanga listed increased octane levels that enhance vehicle torque as one of the advantages of ethanol blended  petrol.
“Motorists should use the petrol blend as we have done enough tests and everyone including the motor industry has given this fuel a thumbs up,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources from the oil industry yesterday indicated that motorists had not yet received enough  education on ethanol blending and advantages of using the fuel.

“There is speculation that the blend gets exhausted quickly, increasing the need to refuel regularly,’ an official from one company selling the blend said.
He called on the relevant authorities to increase awareness  of the product so that there was full appreciation of the product.
Another official dismissed reports that there was  resistance among fuel companies to introduce petrol blending in Zimbabwe.

“Most companies are going through trial phases  of this commodity. The companies did not have storage facilities for the ethanol. Some of the companies that have introduced blended petrol have since acquired the storage facilities.
“The next stage for most of the companies is to invest in infrastructure to store the ethanol while also building the blending plants,” he said.

Ethanol production at Chisumbanje, a public-private partnership venture between Arda and its investors,  has shown the potential for Zimbabwe’s economic recovery.
Government accorded the project a National Project Status and gazetted Statutory Instrument 144 of 2011 to give legal guidance of the E10 product specification.
The ethanol plant produces 220 000 litres of ethanol per day and five megawatts of electricity.

The plant is, however, expected to produce, when complete, 700 000 litres of ethanol and 18 megawatts of electricity to be fed into the national grid.
Green Fuel plans to build two more plants, one at Chisumbanje and another in Middle Sabi in response to envisaged local and regional demand for blended fuel.

The project employs, directly and indirectly, at least 4 265 people, while another 10 000 jobs would be created by 2014 in the agricultural, construction and manufacturing divisions of the project.
The production would also cater for an outgrower scheme targeting farmers who would grow sugar cane and receive technical support.

Ethanol production, while providing a domestic solution to fuel supplies in Zimbabwe, would create jobs especially in the rural areas.

Petrol blending reduces air pollution while decreasing greenhouse emissions by over 60 percent.
Ethanol blending has been introduced in such countries as Brazil (E20,E25), United States (E10), France (E10), Malawi (E10) and Thailand (E20) among other countries.