Written by Nadine Sanchara
BY the end of this year, a blender will be installed at the Bioethanol Demonstration Plant at Albion, Berbice, making it possible to produce the E10 mixture of fuel, a 10 percent ethanol blend of gasoline to be used in vehicles.

This was disclosed by Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy during a recent interview at his Regent Road, Georgetown office.

Guyana’s first ever Bio-ethanol Demonstration Plant, a joint venture between the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Guyana, was commissioned on August 20.
The $85M plant is located in the compound of Albion Sugar Estate in Berbice, and will be managed by Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo). The IDB has plugged some $67M into the facility while the remainder of the cost was borne by GuySuCo.
Ramsammy said that while the plant is at present in operation, it is not being utilised every day because it is only producing a small amount of bioethanol which is being used in the GuySuCo laboratories.
He noted that the bulk of the bioethanol produced by the plant is intended to be used in vehicles and the mixture required for that use needs a blender.
“That’s what we’re doing right now, testing various blending equipment, so before the end of this year, we should have in place the blender that will allow us to use the bioethanol in vehicles,” he said.
Meanwhile, the plant was established through a programme called “Expanding bio-energy opportunities in Guyana”, in which the government had collaborated with the IDB. This technical collaboration includes the installation and commissioning of a bio-ethanol plant for demonstration purposes.
It will not be used for commercial purposes, but will serve as a training ground for GuySuCo apprentices and employees, as well as for persons from other institutions.
Its main objectives are to demonstrate the production of fuel grade ethanol locally, to provide fuel for future demonstration of the use of ethanol as a vehicle source, and to develop a facility for the training of local personnel in bio-fuel technologies.
The plant will utilise “blackstrap” molasses, the final output from the sugar production process to produce ethanol of a 99.9 percent grade. This ethanol can then be blended with gasoline for use in vehicles.
It utilises a two-stage process: fermentation and distillation and dehydration. Green Bio-refineries of Brazil and WhiteFox Technologies Limited of Canada were contracted and sub-contracted to install the components for the respective processes.
In the meantime, while significant emphasis is being placed on developing sources of cleaner, cheaper energy, the National Agricultural, Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) has established a Bioenergy Department, which is being headed by Dr. Clairmont Clementson.
In addition, a policy has been developed to guide the work programmes and activities of this department and it has been finalised by the Agriculture Ministry.