THE recently established Bioenergy Department of the National Agricultural Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) has developed an agro-energy policy which, when finalised, will guide the work programmes and activities of the department.

This was revealed by NAREI Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Oudho Homenauth, in an interview with the Guyana Chronicle yesterday.
He related that the policy has been developed and was submitted to Agriculture Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy for review. He also pointed out that the policy will require Cabinet’s approval.
He added that the department is awaiting feedback so that the policy can be finalised and subsequently implemented.
Dr. Homenauth related that sometime last year NAREI was mandated by the agriculture minister to establish the Bioenergy Department, which eventually came into fruition earlier this year and is headed by Dr. Clairmont Clementson.
He stated that the unit has a number of ongoing programmes, noting that although it is centrally located within NAREI, it works along with other agencies within the system such as the Guyana Sugar Corporation (GuySuCo), Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and the Institute of Applied Science and Technology (IAST).

Ethanol from Molasses
Dr. Homenauth further highlighted that a major activity being undertaken by the unit is the production of ethanol from molasses.
For this purpose, he related that a facility has been established at Albion in Berbice which should become functional by August this year.
He explained that the first component has already been put in place, and the equipment for the second, which will be necessary to produce anhydrous ethanol or 99.5 percent pure ethanol, is already in the country and will be installed soon.
He stated that the operation of the plant will be timed for when the Albion factory comes back into operation so that there will be a supply of molasses from the factory to do the necessary manufacturing.
In addition, Dr. Homenauth related that the plant will be managed by GuySuCo and has the capacity to generate 1,000 litres of ethanol per day. He also stated that it is expected that its operation will not put an additional cost on the corporation.
He pointed out that the intention is to produce ethanol which can be used in the pharmaceutical industry and in vehicles.
He explained that vehicles can be powered by 10 percent ethanol and it is intended that this will initially be tested on the ministry’s fleet of vehicles.
Moreover, he related that the facility at Albion will also be used for training technical personnel and it is conveniently located in close proximity to the GuySuCo training school.
Homenauth related that there have been previous training activities which involved technicians and other persons from the different agencies that have an involvement in agro-energy.
He also noted that NAREI has been working with the GEA to further promote the use of biodiversity in getting cooking gas. He said that this is not a new phenomenon, noting that it is tied to the other aspects of agriculture which involves the use of waste to generate cooking gas.