Biofuel – An Alternative and Sustainable Energy Source

Since my strive to make aware PNG and other Pacific island nations through Commentary by writer Mathew Yakai (Sunday Chronicle-PNG) and daily papers , though hardly through ) I have received numerous personnel calls from majority of grass roots ,individuals,national bodies and respective personals on the theme of Biofuels given the world imminent crisis of fossil fuels and changing challenges of climate changes as instigated by fossil fuel by product of carbon dioxide imbalance in the atmosphere.
Some one up in the highlands of PNG called to express his gratitude and personal views that PNG should embrace biofuel developments and shake of outside fuel dealers, the converse was short due to high cost of long distance called, he called several times. Someone from the street of Port Moresby called called while in his Bus loading passengers to congratulate me on the researches in Biodiesel from Algae, he urged me to continue doing it for the small people and the nation to one day be independent and producing our very own fuel.
Some one in POM city called me, encouraged and said PNG should see Biofuel as a way forward for development, will create more jobs,fuel independent and economic stability.
NBC radio in POM called twice , and I have aired my research findings nationwide and possibilities that PNG can become indenpendent and cheaply mass produce biodiesel, ensure fuel security and fully dependent on biofuel for all generations.
Couple of recent calls from individuals have been received, these and others all signify the the importance of working on Biofuel as a way forward.
My researches indicated that if biofuel is produced from other sources such as jatropha , 30+% of all fuel in the nation can be provided, however, if biodiesel from algae can be produced 70-90% can be supplied for the national demand.
This means Interoil can buck off or take the 10% market deal for supply, this will create thousands of jobs nationwide.
Past couple of months back, PNG have seen and experienced what fuel shortage can devastate people across the nation and cripple economy. Government was lip tight, Inter oil rip money from PNG and ICCCP find reasons and excuses for skyrocketing prices of fuel and consequent rise of daily necessities.
Individuals and intellects of the nation are now supporting the idea that Government must invest and develop Biofuel from viable sources. As the world moves away from fossil into green fuel, we must not be left alone but develop the alternative.

Below is a personal information from an intellect student scholar expressing his idea that Biofuel is the wayforward for PNG.


From James Aipa, MSc student studying at the SCAU, GUANGZHOU, Guangdong Province and I come from Papua New Guinea. My major is Soil Science with a specialty in Plant Nutrition and Plant Nutritional Genetics. I am currently embarking on my Thesis Research on Soybean Production in Acid Soils directed towards Phosphorus deficiency, Aluminum Toxicity, Water deficits (Drought) and Salt Stress (Soil Salinization).

Papua New Guinea (PNG) is certainly blessed with a vast diversity of resources, be it natural or agricultural. PNG is in fact one of the few richest countries in the world endowed with such a rich diversity and huge resource base, yet poor like Congo in Africa. PNG, like no other country on the face of this Earth is endowed with her richness in gold, copper, natural oil and gas, and nickel along with coffee, tea, natural rubber, timber and marine resources. There is also a wide range of field and tree crops, most export commodity crops that can be exploited through this so called ‘biofuel’ technology.

With the conducive and favorable climatic conditions in PNG and a rich diversity of field and tree crops, PNG could be seen as a ‘superpower’ in biofuel. Yes, there is no doubt about that, however, it must also be noted that the introduction of a new technology has its associated negative implications. In view of the increase in natural lands needed for cassava cultivation, there maybe a greater risk of CO2 emission. The amount of emission maybe small, but nevertheless important enough to demand greater research into the sinks and sources of CO2, the biogeochemical processes and factors involved. This will assist those concerned in ultimately exploring management options available to mitigate emissions and enhance the sinks.

Now, turning to the global front, almost all developed countries in the world are embarking on some form of national biofuel program. This is either in order to reduce their green house gas (GHG) emissions and/or diversify their energy sources. Likewise, some developing countries are turning into the biofuels direction in order to satisfy the so called developed countries demand, and at the same time for economic growth domestically and/or to diversify the national energy system. With the same token, PNG has the capacity to embark on any biofuel industry utilizing coconut, oil palm, jatropha, soybean for bio-diesel, and sugarcane and cassava for ethanol production.
Algae biofuel is another very interesting source that is top agenda world wide(This study is under taken by PNG student) developments are done and fuel are now used rendering it best fuel properties and suitable for use in any world condition including using at the top of Mount Everest , North and South pol locations.

Also, from hearsay, PNG’s own sons, the Bougainvilleans have been using coconut oil as a substitute bio-diesel for powering small diesel engines on the Island for almost half a century. With that, any insights into such new technologies are owed to the Government of China and the people of the People’s Republic of China through the Chinese Scholarship Council and the Chinese Embassy in PNG for selecting a new breed of Papua New Guinean students to study in China under a vast diversity of professional fields.

Finally, God bless you all; PNG students, Pacific Island brothers/sisters and other friends of the world.