National Biodiesel Program
source: http://www.aedb.org/bioprogram.htm
source: http://www.aedb.org/bioprogram.htm
Realizing the importance of Biodiesel, AEDB outlined National Biodiesel Programme and decided to assist & facilitate the stakeholders involved for this purpose. AEDB formulated Policy Recommendations for use of Biodiesel as an alternative fuel which are primarily aimed at reducing the country’s fuel import bill. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Federal Cabinet has approved the Policy Recommendations for use of Biodiesel as an Alternative Fuel in its meeting held on 15th February 2008 Click here to download the Policy Recommendations.
Biodiesel Advisory Committee. Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) has been declared as the apex agency by the Federal Government to coordinate and facilitate the National Biodiesel Programme. In continuation to the efforts for the realization of National Biodiesel Programme, AEDB coordinated with the relevant stakeholders and formed an advisory committee to steer the National Biodiesel Programme.
Biodiesel Advisory Committee comprises the following stakeholders:
- Alternative Energy Development Board (Chair)
- Representative from Ministry of Food & Agriculture (Member)
- Representative from Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources (Member)
- Representative from Pakistan Agricultural Research Council (Member)
- Representative from Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd. (Member)
After the approval of Policy Recommendations for the use of Biodiesel as an alternative fuel, SRO 474 (I)/2008 for the exemption of taxes and duties on Biodiesel related equipment, machinery and other specific items was issued by Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Click here to download the SRO.
Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd. AEDB has successfully engaged Pakistan State Oil (PSO) for furthering the National Biodiesel Programme. PSO has established Alternate Energy Department at their Head Office in Karachi. PSO has established a Jatropha Nursery and a Jatropha Model Farm at 22 acres land available at Pipri Marshalling Yard (PMY), Karachi.AEDB also provided a Biodiesel production plant to PSO for the optimization of Biodiesel processing techniques. PSO has processed and tested different Biodiesel blends on its fleet vehicles and generators.
Seminar on National Biodiesel Programme. AEDB organized a Seminar on “National Biodiesel Programme: Identification of Barriers” on 10th July 2009 at Islamabad. The Seminar was aimed to gather the public and private sector stakeholders in order to identify the barriers that need to be successfully addressed to propagate the National Biodiesel Programme on a commercial scale. These include feedstock options, regulations for certification of seeds opted for Biodiesel production, selection of appropriate land for energy plantations, buyback arrangements and pricing mechanism for Biodiesel & its various blends with mineral diesel. The recommendations of the Seminar will assist in consolidating the Policy & Regulatory Framework for Biodiesel currently being formulated by AEDB.
By organizing this Seminar, AEDB has made an attempt to highlight and discuss the important issues which need to be seriously considered by the Policymakers to ascertain that the National Biodiesel Programme becomes a success story.
Feasibility Study for Setting up Biodiesel Production Facility. The Federal Government has assigned AEDB the target of gradual introduction of Biodiesel fuel blends with Petroleum diesel so as to achieve a minimum share of 5% by volume of the total diesel consumption in the country by the year 2015 and 10% by 2025. For this purpose, AEDB got approved a PC-II for undertaking a Feasibility Study to set up 10,000 Tons per Annum Biodiesel Production Facility. Funding for undertaking the feasibility study is being awaited.
Pakistan’s first ever Commercial Biodiesel Refinery. Pakistan’s first ever commercial Biodiesel production facility has been setup in Karachi by M/s Eco-Friendly Fuels Private Ltd. This Biodiesel refinery has a capacity of producing 18,000 Tons of Biodiesel per annum.
Jatropha Cultivation in Pakistan. Experimental cultivation of Biodiesel feedstock on scientific basis has also been started. The cultivation has now risen from around 2 acres in 2005 to more than 700 acres in 2010. This surge in Jatropha cultivation is mainly based on aggressive campaign undertaken by AEDB. A number of institutions imported Jatropha seeds for germination from variety of sources and countries. They have been growing such nurseries at various sites in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan
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