A big pure alcohol factory will start operating in the central province of Quang Nam early next year, producing low-cost alcohol-petrol.

Mixing pure alcohol into petrol to make a low-cost fuel is not new in the world. In Vietnam, this measure was unfeasible because Vietnam had to import pure alcohol at a higher price than petrol. This is considered a solution again as the petrol price is increasing and petrol supply is diminishing.

The Green Field JS Company is installing a pure alcohol factory in Quang Nam province, which will produce alcohol from cassava to serve the local market and for export to Europe, Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.

This factory is scheduled to become operational in 2009. “The price of pure alcohol depends on the prices of input materials but it will surely be cheaper than petrol,” said Luu Quang Thai, Chairman of Green Field.

Some experts say the price of pure alcohol produced on the industrial-scale will be around VND12,000/l (compared to VND19,500/l of petrol at present).

Dr. Le Anh Tuan of the Hanoi University of Polytechnics in early 2008 cooperated with Green Field Company to make some tests. They used pure alcohol petrol as fuel for a motorbike and a car and the tests showed good results.

This kind of fuel showed reduced fuel consumption and emissions compared to petrol. However, the impacts of alcohol-petrol on engines are not known yet because the required expenditures are large, according to Dr. Tuan.

Da Nang University has made some tests of alcohol-petrol fuel since 2005, and had encouraging results.