The National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) has called for the development of bio-based fuel capacity in Nigeria through the implementation of the E10 Mandate allowing 10 per cent of ethanol to be blended with gasoline.
Speaking while receiving the participants of the Senior Executive Course No 39, 2017 from the National Institute of Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, in Abuja recently, the Executive Secretary of the NSDC, Dr. Latif Busari, said the world is turning to green energy and biofuel and Nigeria should not be left behind.
This is coming at a time that China recently announced that the country would start using ethanol gasoline for energy by 2020 and Britain also announced that the country would phase out vehicles using fossil fuels soon.
Dr. Busari told the course participants that ethanol blending with gasoline can go up to 80 per cent but Nigeria can start with 10 per cent and scale up later.
The sugar council boss noted that the investment needed to set up ethanol facility is cheaper and easier to install than sugar refinery, adding that at the moment, Nigeria has only one ethanol production facility with the bulk of the domestic need being imported.
He said the council is also concerned with ethanol production as part of the country’s Backward Integration Plan implementation in the sugar industry.
The Acting Director General of NIPSS, Mr. Jonathan Mela Juma, said sugar is important in the overall economic diversification drive of the government.
He said the course participants decided to visit NSDC because of its importance in the agricultural revolution needed in the country and considering that most Nigerians consume sugar.
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