Why BHD is the fuel of the future

Why BHD is the fuel of the future By KINGSLEY WIJAYASINHA

The Nation

Published on July 25, 2008







Yukio Yoshida, vice president of Toyota Motor Asia Pacific, Engineering and Manufacturing (TMAPEM), said E85 - a mixture of 85-per-cent ethanol and 15-per-cent petrol - is a type of biofuel which should be promoted.

"Due to the degree of heat produced by ethanol, the fuel consumption of E85 is 35 per cent higher than petrol, so the retail price should also be at least 35 per cent lower than petrol to make it viable," Yoshida said.

Meanwhile, B5 biodiesel is not an attractive solution either.

"Thailand produces a large amount of palm oil which can be used for B5 biodiesel, but most of it is exported due to the good price it fetches in the global market," he said.

"But for biohydrogenated diesel (BHD), it is possible to produce B100 biodiesel, which is even higher than E85 and this is important because if Thailand is able to produce enough crops, which are not food crops, then we can produce BHD, which will become another important type of fuel apart from ethanol," Yoshida said.

Currently, Toyota offers the E85 Corolla in Brazil, but the engine passes only Euro 2 standards while Thailand already uses the Euro 3 standard, TMT's executive board vice chairman Ninnart Chaitirapinyo said.

He said the company has no plans to offer the E85 Corolla in Thailand and to develop a new E85 model, it would need at least four years.