Manning: T&T can't produce enough ethanol fuel
PORT SPAIN
Trinidad Express
Petroleumworldtt.com
17 10 08
Sugar-cane based ethanol is not a viable fuel alternative for vehicles in this country, says Prime Minister Patrick Manning.
"We examined it in Trinidad and Tobago. In Trinidad and Tobago it is not economically viable and, therefore, not an option for us," Manning told the Parliament.
He said this is because this country just does not have enough land space to grow the amount of sugar cane required for ethanol production during his contribution to the debate on the House of Representatives debate to confirm the Excise Duty (Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Order, 2008 on Friday night.
Manning made his comment in response to questions raised by Opposition Siparia MP Kamla Persad-Bissessar and less than five years after his administration shut down Caroni (1975) Ltd because it was deemed as an unprofitable sugar manufacturing enterprise that had become a strain on the nation's treasury.
"In countries like Guyana, Mr Speaker, which have significantly larger acreage and which lend themselves to mechanised harvesting and planting it might be an option. In countries like Belize, that might be a similar option," Manning said.
Saying that "today's solutions are in renewable energy", Persad-Bissessar said Caroni (1975) Ltd would have provided an ideal alternative to the finite fossil-based gasoline and diesel that fuel the majority of the vehicles on the nation's roads.
"We had the chance in this country with Caroni (1975) Ltd with its thousands of acres of sugar cane, which you shut down. Shut down, closed down when we could have utliised that. That could have been alternative energy, Mr Speaker," Persad-Bissessar said.
She said such a move would have been more in keeping with 21st Century thinking as opposed to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), the gas-based fuel which the Manning administration is seeking to have more vehicles owners use as an alternative to gasoline and diesel.
"So to talk about CNG which was a solution in 1983, 25 years ago, with due respect, we have to move forward and look at what is happening in the world today," Persad-Bissessar said.
Manning said that Persad-Bissessar was speaking in qualitative terms and in doing so, made ethanol production sound much more viable an option for this country than it actually is.
"But when you begin to talk in quantitative terms about that approach, Mr Speaker, that the acreage of sugar cane in Trinidad and Tobago just was not enough to make the approach economically viable," said Manning.
Persad-Bissessar questioned on whose authority did the Manning administration come to its conclusion and asked if a feasibility study on the issue had been carried out.
She then made reference to US President-elect Barack Obama's campaign slogan and declared, "Yes we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can. This notion about we are too small but we are a resourceful people in this country."
By Juhel Browne , from Trinidad
& Tobago Express
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jbrowne@trinidadexpress.com
Trinidad
Express
Tuesday, November 11th 2008
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