The Ministry of Energy's Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency will seek private partnership to invest in the establishment of a prototype plant to produce ethanol from sweet sorghum.
The department's deputy directorgeneral Twarath Sutabutr said it would seek either a sugar processor or an ethanol company to invest jointly in the plant, which is to have a production capacity of 1,000 litres per day. The plant is expected to be set up next year.
Thailand currently produces of 1.2 million litres of ethanol per day, and 1.8 million litres of biodiesel, he said. The country plans to raise the daily production of ethanol to 9 million litres and of biodiesel to 4.5 million litres by 2022. Most of the ethanol at present was produced from cassava.
If there is no expansion of cassava planting or increase in its yield, Thailand will not have enough for export in 2022, Twarath said. The country needed to seek an alternative crop as the raw material for ethanol production, instead of relying mainly on cassava, and sweet sorghum has high potential.
"Sweet sorghum is the alternative to cassava and sugar cane in ethanol production. Its residue can be used as fuel for biomass power plants," he said.