By JAMES KUNDA –
TWO Zambian firms have expressed interest in establishing ethanol refineries locally, the Biofuel Association of Zambia (BAZ) has said.
BAZ chairperson Thomson Sinkala said the firms had already drawn up business plans which will be used to acquire funding from prospective sources to carry out the projects.
Professor Sinkala said the companies had also assessed the availability of raw materials with a visit to cassava-rich Luapula Province recently.
He said the entrepreneurs required US$1 million each, as capital to establish an ethanol refinery, or K12.3 million to construct facilities to blend bioethanol with crude oil.
“Two local companies have come on board with intent to establish ethanol refineries and recently, they toured Luapula Province to check on the availability of cassava which is used as a raw material,” he said.
Prof Sinkala said if financiers were willing to provide funding, the two firms were ready to commence the projects within the next six months
The Government announced that it had worked out the pricing mechanism for biofuels using the petroleum price framework by applying a zero – five per cent discounted rate to the current wholesale prices for petrol and diesel
The use of ethanol will reduce Zambia’s dependence on petroleum which is imported at colossal sums of money from the Middle East.
