Non-Edible Oil Feedstocks for Biodiesel Production in Nepal

Non-Edible Oil Feedstocks for Biodiesel Production in Nepal

Dr. Arjun Bahadur KC

Nepal is reeling from an extreme shortage of electricity and petroleum products. Lack of  transportation fuels, cooking gas, kerosene and several hours of load shading daily due to  insufficient supply of electricity have been the inherent part of the Nepalese society these days.  This has not only affected the daily living of the people but has also severely hampered the economic and industrial development of the country. Even though several alternatives have been sought, no concrete progress has yet been made in the development of alternative and renewable energy development. There is no indication that the import of petroleum products will decline anytime soon, leaving the country more vulnerable than ever in terms of energy supply. Production of liquid biofuels such as biodiesel is one of the several ways to reduce the import of petroleum products and save significant amount of hard earned dollars in the country.

Over 87% of the total primary energy in Nepal is derived from traditional biomass sources such as fuelwood, agricultural residues and animal wastes, 12% from commercial sources such as petroleum and electricity and approximately 1% by renewable alternatives (WECS, 2010). It has also been reported that Nepal spends approximately 50% of its earnings from its commodity export to import petroleum products which provides only about 10% of the total energy consumed in the country. Despite the huge sum of money spent, the petroleum products are always in short supply. For example, Nepal supplied only about 48% of the total demand of petroleum fuels in 2008 (Bhattarai (2009). The state owned Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) is the sole supplier of petroleum products in Nepal. The NOC neither has financial capacity nor the storage capacity to meet the country’s demand of petroleum products. The government has no long-term planning on the sustainable supply of liquid fuels.

Nepal’s transport sector is the second largest energy consumer only after the domestic sector. The energy consumption in this sector is rising continuously at a rate of 8.9% annually and uses approximately 9 % of the total energy consumed in Nepal (WECS, 2010). Over 63.2% of the total petroleum consumption occurs in the transportation sector followed by approximately 16.6% in residential sector, 10.5% in agriculture sector, 8.2% in commercial sector and slightly over 1.4% in industrial sector. The share of petroleum used in the industrial sector, which is extremely low, indicates the bleak situation of the country’s industrial and economic development. It was also found that High Speed Diesel took the highest share with 67% of all energy used in the transportation sector followed by approximately 20% Motor Spirit (gasoline), 12% Air Turbine Fuel (ATF) and 1% Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) fuel. This clearly shows that even a small fraction of biodiesel production in the country will reduce the dependence of diesel as it has the highest share of total petroleum consumption, increase the local economic opportunity and reduce air pollution and particulate emission due to diesel use.

The consumption of diesel in the country is significantly increasing annually. In 1993-1994, the diesel consumption was approximately 195 million litres. This amount increased by 61% and the total diesel consumption was approximately 489 million litres in the year 2008-2009. Majority of this diesel is used as transportation fuel. This shows that blending any amount of biodiesel with conventional diesel will have positive impact in energy balance, economy and environmental pollution.

Nepal is endowed with huge natural resources over its entire area of about 14.1 million hectares. In addition, Nepalese forests are reported to have a vast quantity of oil bearing plants. It has also been reported that over 286 oil bearing plants are found in Nepal and out of them, 92 species produce seeds with oil content exceeding 30% (Singh, 1980). In some cases, the oil content could reach as high as 80% (Shrestha et al 2003, Boswell 1998). Pine oil (pinus roxburghii) is one of such oil bearing plants found in Nepal with estimated 3 million tonnes of oil production annually (Kumar et al., 2006). Biodiesel can also be produced from dhaka (Aregmone mexicana), nageswhor (Mesua ferrea), jatropha (Jatropha curcas), soapnut oil Sapindus mukurossi), mahua oil (Madhuca Indica), seabuckthorn oil (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), caster oil, hempseed oil, rapeseed oil, soybean oil, waste cooking oil and animal fat available in Nepal. Nepal is a net importer of food. The use of food grade grains such as rapeseed oil and soybean oil for biodiesel production should not be allowed in Nepal. Therefore the emphasis should be placed on the use of non-edible oil feedstocks such as jatropha oil to produce biodiesel fuel in Nepal.

Parajuli (2009) reported that about 30% of 14.1 million hectares (approx 4.23 million hectares) of the total land of Nepal is considered favorable for jatropha cultivation. In addition, approximately 2.38 million hectares of land is in buffer zones of various national parks and wild life reserves, of which 0.39 million hectares is climatically suitable for jatropha production. Chhetri (2012) modeled several scenarios based on the climatic distribution for jatropha production in Nepal assuming that 1000 litres of jatropha oil can be produced per hectare of land annually. If jatropha is planted in 100% of climatically favorable land, 4230 million litres of biodiesel can be produced, which is almost 9 times higher than the diesel imported in Nepal in 2008-09. If jatropha is produced in only 20% of the total land climatically favorable for its cultivation, 846 million litres of biodiesel can be produced, which is 175 % more than the total diesel consumption for the year 2008-2009 in Nepal (489 million litres). Both of these scenarios may not be practical at present. Chhetri (2012) also modeled several jatropha production scenarios only in non-cultivated agricultural land and buffer zone area. It was found that even if jatropha is planted only in 20% of non-cultivated agricultural land and 20% of buffer zone area, about 303 million litres of biodiesel can be produced. This amount can replace approximately 62% of the total diesel consumed in Nepal in 2008-09. The most practical scenario will be to target the jatropha production in only 5% of the non-cultivated agricultural land and 5% of the buffer zone area where roughly 76 million litres of biodiesel can be produced, that means approximately 16% of diesel import could be reduced. This amount will be sufficient to blend 78% of the total diesel imported in 2008-09 if 20% blend ratio is used, which is significant. This will reduce significant amount of carbon dioxide emissions, save money and provide more stability in transportation fuel supply in Nepal. In addition to this, a significant amount of carbon dioxide can be sequestered through jatropha plantation. For example, if jatropha is planted in only 20% of non-cultivated agricultural land and 20% of buffer zone areas, approximately 2.43 million tonnes of carbon dioxide can be sequestered, which will be roughly equal to 17 million US dollars in CDM grant money annually (8 tCO2e/ha).

However, current policy of the Government of Nepal (GoN) is not sufficient to promote jatropha production for biodiesel use. There is neither minimum blend ratio requirement for diesel nor any portfolio standard for green energy mix in diesel. There should be a long-term energy strategy for biodiesel development and promotion to avoid too much dependence on imported diesel. The GoN should first promulgate the biodiesel blend requirement regulation; provide incentives for biodiesel feedstock plantation, tax exemption for equipment import and so on. Even before all this, educational awareness on the potential of biodiesel production and its positive impact on overall energy mix in Nepal should be started as a campaign.

Dr. Arjun KC is a carbon and energy specialist, delivering his consulting services in western Canada. He can be reached at kcarjun@gmail.com.

Source: http://sln.tulipstechnologies.com/sln/Forum.aspx?ArticleID=4249  (as per Dr. Arjun KC)