VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnam has been cherishing the ambitious
plan on making biofuel, which would be consumed domestically as the “fuel of
the future.” However, this proves to be a far-away dream.
Two years ago, when launching the
program on developing biofuel E5, Vietnamese officials believed that E5, which
helps prolong engine’s life expectancy and protects the environment, would
become the “fuel of the future.”
Consumers turn back on “clean” fuel, using “dirty” fuel
In Hanoi, E5 biofuel was launched
into the market on August 1, 2010 with the sale price 500 dong per liter lower
than RON92 petrol.
However, despite the noisy
advertisement campaigns, consumers still turn their backs on the clean fuel.
Tien phong reporter, who was at
the filling station at No 148 Hoang Quoc Viet street one day, noted that none
of the 100 car and motorbike drivers bought E5 petrol, despite the big
billboard at the entrance of the filling station.
Yen, who lives in Tu Liem
district, said she once used E5 petrol after hearing that E5 was better for
motorbike engine. However, she has not used E5 fuel over the last year, because
she cannot see any benefits from using biofuel.
“It would be better to use A92
which has been familiar to everyone. Meanwhile, E5 remains unfamiliar to the
majority of customers,” she explains her decision. “Meanwhile, E5 is now as
expensive as A92 petrol after the price adjustment. Therefore, there is no
reason for me to buy E5,” she added.
An officer at the filling station
admitted that very few people buy E5 fuel, with only several hundreds of liter
of E5 sold every day. Especially, he said, only motorbike drivers accept E5,
while no car driver wants the biofuel.
“The slow sales may be attributed
to the consumers’ lack of information about the advantages of the biofuel,” he
said.
Currently, E5 is available only
at three filling stations in Hanoi, including the ones on Hoang Quoc Viet, Thai
Thinh streets and the third one in Phu Xuyen district. Meanwhile, the salesmen
here all have confirmed that very few people buy E5.
The dream of exporting clean fuel
Since E5 is not favored in the
domestic market, biofuel manufacturers have to think of exporting ethanol, or
they would have to shut down factories.
The Dong Xanh factory that makes
ethanol in the central province of Quang Nam, has reportedly shut down.
Dang Quoc Dung, Deputy Director
of PTSC, said while many other countries in the world do not have sufficient
conditions to produce clean fuel, and they have to import products for domestic
use.
“Meanwhile, Vietnamese people,
who can easily access biofuel, still turn their back on the kind of energy.
This is really enigmatic,” he said.
Also according to Dung, the Dung
Quat Ethanol factory of PTSC is now running on a trial basis with 50 percent of
capacity. To date, PTSC has churned out 9000 cubic meters of ethanol, while
5500 has been sold.
Of this output, PV Oil buys 300
cubic meters to create E5 for domestic sale, while the remaining volume is
exported.
At first, Dung was asked to churn
out the volume of E100 big enough to create E5 fuel. However, since PV Oil only
buys a small volume of E100, the factory has to export ethanol to the
Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
“As such, the government plan to
use clean fuel in Vietnam to protect the environment, still cannot reach its
goal,” Dung said.
Compiled by Thu Uyen
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