PAJ: Japan needs 7 years to double bioethanol use

Japan’s oil industry needs around seven years to more than double the use of bioethanol mixed with gasoline as part of steps to help curb global warming, a top industry executive said. Starting this year, Japanese refiners plan to replace 210,000 kiloliters (kl) a year in crude oil equivalent with biofuel mixed with gasoline. But the industry aims to raise this target further to 500,000 kl, equivalent to 920,000 kl in bioethanol, which should cut carbon dioxide emissions by a little more than 1 million tons per year. “Even if we decide this year, it would be around 2017 when we can meet the 500,000 kl target,” Akihiko Tembo, chairman of the Petroleum Association of Japan (PAJ), told reporters in Tokyo. Tembo, who also serves as chairman of Idemitsu Kosan Co , Japan’s third-biggest refiner, added that it would take time to secure stable supplies and build up the necessary infrastructure. (May 27, 2010)