Singapore has a population of some 180,000 diesel powered Taxis, Buses and Trucks, which are consuming some 18,700 barrels of diesel per day. Singapore also produces some 3.3 million tons of organic waste per year suitable for biofuel production. With second generation biofuel technologies this waste can be turned into enough renewable-diesel to power all Taxis, Buses and Trucks in Singapore. The efficiency of the conversion process will enable a pump price below S$1.20 per liter. The opportunity is there, will we be able to pool the required resources together and make this possible?
Singapore’s Diesel Consumption
Singapore is a country with very high per capita consumption of oil, especially diesel fuel, where most of this diesel is used in the shipping and aviation industry. In this article we only cover the diesel consumption related to the domestic road transportation in Singapore.
According to data available from LTA, Singapore had 178,068 diesel powered Cars, Taxis, Buses and Trucks, and on average these vehicles consumed an estimated 18,676 barrels of diesel per day in 2009. According to data from NEA, Singapore produced some 3,356,540 of organic waste in the form of Food waste, Horticultural Waste, Cardboard paper, etc.
With second generation waste-to-fuel technology, which is available today, the 3.3 million tons of organic waste can be converted to more than 22,000 barrels of Renewable Diesel per day in an economically viable and sustainable way.
Cost of feedstock is key
The failure of the deployment of first generation biofuel in Southeast Asia was mostly to blame on the cost of the feedstock. Crude palm oil prices went up and down with the price of petroleum leaving little or none margin left for producers.
The same principle will of course apply for second generation biofuels – feedstock is the key. The big difference with second generation biofuels is that we will be able to convert waste into valuable fuel which is free or sometimes even paid for.
Implementation Scenario
This is where Singapore will play a crucial role in the implementation of second generation biofuels in Southeast Asia.
First of all technology companies will choose Singapore for its strong IP protection and enforcement schemes. Secondly they will choose Singapore for its well functioning waste management infrastructure.
In Singapore you get paid to take the waste, the revenues from the ‘tipping fees’ will fully offset the higher investment costs associated with second generation biofuels and make a good margin of the fuel.
So deployment second generation biofuels technologies will be trough major cities in Southeast Asia and then spreading into the Palm, Rice and Sugarcane industries where agricultural waste will be turned into fuel.
This is when energy crop plantations will fully take off and it will be important to do this in an sustainable and environmentally friendly way, putting pressure on governments to deliver a clear and consistent legal framework.
Fuel compatibility
Another issue to highlight about the second generation biofuels is also the fact that the fuel produced is 100% compatible with all cars on the streets. Instead of producing ethanol from sugar-based feedstock, the end product is Butanol and from oil-based feedstock Renewable diesel is produced instead of Biodiesel.
Both Butanol and Renewable diesel can substitute crude oil based petrol and diesel without modifications to distribution infrastructure or to the existing car population.
Waste to Fuel is the Future
That municipal solid waste is the way of the future was highlighted this past week with British Airways announcement that it is partnering with U.S.-based Solena Group to build the first European commercial plant that will produce jet fuel from municipal solid waste streams like food scraps, grass, and tree cuttings, as well as agricultural and industrial waste.
What is striking about the BA announcement is the size of the proposed plant, Solena will annually convert 500,000 tons of waste into 16 million gallons of jet biofuels.
Singapore could potentially supply 10-15% of the daily jet fuel needs in Changi, from waste, but then of course there would not be enough fuel left for all the taxis, busses and trucks.
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Per Dahlen is Partner with Portelet Asia Pte. Ltd., Singapore, responsible for the Portelet Cleantech Initiative. Reach him at p.dahlen@portelet.com or +65-8223.5356
