04/02/2009 (Business Mirror) - BANGKOK—PTT Research and Technology Inc. (PTTRTI), owned by Thai petroleum giant PTT Public Co. Ltd., is conducting field and lab tests on engines running on 10-percent, 20-percent and 50-percent biodiesel blends.

“Extensive research and development on alternative fuel sources, particularly testing higher biodiesel and ethanol blends have made it possible for us to offer higher biofuels blends to motorists,” Artasith Pothiapinyanvisuth, PTT executive vice president, told Filipino reporters visiting their facility.

At present, as much as 20-percent ethanol-gasoline blend and as high as a 5-percent palm-biodiesel blend are available in PTT’s retail stations in Thailand.

Since 1985, the Royal Chitralada Project—an initiative of the King of Thailand and PTT Public Co. Ltd. Plc.—has been at the forefront in efforts to develop the use of ethanol as alternative fuel.

Parent firm PTT Public recently infused capital to PTTRTI to work on a research on higher blends of alternative fuel sources.

PTT Public Co. Ltd. invested about P1.4 billion (1 billion baht) on PTTRTI to finance a research and development program on alternative fuel sources in the next three to five years.

In Thailand, blended fuel sources use palm oil for biodiesel and molasses for ethanol.

Kunn Kangvansachoi, PTTRTI researcher said they hope to be able to track high-yielding jathropa seeds that reportedly produces the same volume of feedstock as palm oil. “We have realized that jathropa could be used a biodiesel feedstock after years of research,” Kangvansachoi said.

PTT think-tank said that it has to determine which jathropa seed would give higher yields before they could launch their jathropa development program and encourage farmers to plant the said crop.

“We will start the development of the right seed that can produce the oil that would match the quantity of palm oil within three years,” Kangvansachoi said.

He added that they would try to produce 600 kilos of jathropa oil per rye.

PTTRTI has partnered with Toyota and academe to run tests using higher blends of biodiesel on several vehicles.