[Oman-L] Omani company to launch region's first bio-refinery

[Joachim Duester]

Omani company set to launch region's first
bio-refinery   
Khaleej Times - 22 June 2007

Work on the Arab region's first 'bio-refinery', that
will produce ethanol mainly from date palms for use in
motor vehicles as a substitute for petrol and diesel,
is due to start in Oman's Batinah region town of Sohar
soon.

The 11 million riyal plant, to be imported from
Brazil, will immediately create 4,000 jobs for
nationals, besides turning in a profit of $ 225
million in its very first year of operation, its
promoter, an enterprising Omani businessman, claims.

Mohammed Saif Al Harthy said yesterday that the
uniqueness of the project was that cellulose, that
will be converted into ethanol, would be extracted
from the date palms "without cutting a single tree."
His 'Oman Green Energy Company' (OGEC) plans to set up
a string of 'bio-fuel filling stations' all over the
country and aims to cut carbon monoxide emission by up
to 20 per cent by 2020.

The plant, expected to be ready by the end of the year
or early 2008, will have an initial capacity of
900,000 tonnes per annum, which will be doubled within
two years.

The new 'green' fuel will be sold at 80 baisas per
litre, compared with an average price of 125 baisas a
litre for petrol and 130 baisas for diesel in Oman.
Eighty per cent of the output will be exported, mainly
to Europe, China and India where the demand for
alternative fuels is surging as it is in the United
States, Canada and Brazil. The rest will be consumed
in Oman and other GCC countries where, Harthy said,
the trend was just catching up.

"Our cost of production, according to detailed studies
we conducted, will be $ 200 per tonne against the
average worldwide price for the finished product of $
450 a tonne. Hence, on an initial production of
900,000 tonnes annually, we are looking at a profit of
$ 225 million in the first year," he added.

Harthy, 43, has been working on the project for the
past two years and has extensively studied the
experience of Brazil, a pioneer in the field and which
has been successfully producing fuel from sugarcane
for decades. He said 95 per cent of cellulose required
for the project would come from date palms. "The
beauty of the whole thing is that we will extract
cellulose from the trees without cutting a single
tree.

"Each tree can produce nine kilogrammes of cellulose
every five days. So you can imagine the potential," he
added. Rest of the cellulose needed for the project
will come from plants such as Arunda Donuts, which
also grow abundantly in the Sultanate.

"Most significantly, these trees and plants do not
require too much water," Harthy said, adding that the
project would give a boost to the agriculture sector
by encouraging farmers to go in for date cultivation
on a much larger scale.

Although the plant as such is not very labour
intensive — needing only around 50 people to operate
it, it will create thousands of job openings
immediately.

In fact, OGEC, which will start collecting bio-mass by
mid-August, will recruit 4,000 nationals the same
month.

Harthy explained: "They will be trained in the
pre-treatment of the raw material and converting the
waste into coal.

The workers will be trained for five months on
operating the 'pressuring' machines — the company will
be importing 4,000 of these machines — and will be
absorbed as full-time employees.

"This is really a huge project," Harthy, who is also
the CEO of the company, said, adding: "Once in
operation, not only will it be one of the country's
largest employers, but will significantly contribute
to the economy boosting the agriculture sector,
besides considerably reducing pollution."

He said the company plans to set up a chain of
bio-fuel filling stations across the country. "As
people here become more and more aware of the
advantages, both in terms of costs and environmental
impacts I am certain, ethanol will replace petrol and
diesel as the main source of fuel all over the Gulf."