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UZBEKISTAN - The Biofuel Option

UZBEKISTAN - The Biofuel Option.

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Uzbekistan stands a good chance of becoming a major producer of biofuels, which could play an ever-increasing role in its energy sector. Unlike Brazil, where biofuel is made mainly from sugar-cane or the US where it is distilled from corn, Uzbekistan's ace resource is an indigenous plant, Camelina sativa. Of the former Soviet Caucasian and Central Asian republics, those clustered around the shores of the Caspian Sea and Aral Seas have seen their economies boom because of record-high energy prices, while Uzbekistan, Kyrghyzstan and Tadjikistan have large potentials from this plant which is found in abundance in the three landlocked countries.

Known in the West as false flax, wild flax, linseed dodder, German sesame and Siberian oilseed, camelina is attracting increased scientific interest for its oleaginous qualities, with several European and US firms already investigating how to produce it in commercial quantities for biofuel. In January Japan Airlines undertook a historic test flight using camelina-based bio-jet fuel, becoming the first Asian carrier to experiment with flying on fuel derived from sustainable feedstocks during a one-hour demonstration flight from Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The test was the culmination of a 12-month evaluation of camelina's performance capability and potential commercial viability.

As an alternative energy source, camelina has a high oil content, low in saturated fat. In contrast to Central Asia's thirsty "king cotton", camelina is drought-resistant and immune to spring freezing, requires less fertiliser and herbicides, and can be used as a rotation crop with wheat, which would make it of particular interest in Uzbekisan, now Central Asia's main exporter of cotton. Another bonus of camelina is its tolerance of poorer, less fertile conditions. An acre sown with camelina can produce up to 100 gallons of oil. A ton of camelina will contain 350 kg of oil, of which pressing can extract 250 kg. Nothing in camelina production is wasted as after processing, the plant's debris can be used for livestock silage (see down1AzerCasp-July5-10).

Date:  13.11.2010

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