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| Business |
| Ethco to buy car from Brazil for experiments |
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by
Tadala Makata Kakwesa , 23 March 2007
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06:21:04
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Nkhotakota-based Ethanol Company Limited (Ethco) has offered to buy a vehicle to be used for experiments under the Ethanol-Propelled Vehicle Project, director for the Department of Science and Technology Henry Mbeza told journalists in Lilongwe on Wednesday.
The flex vehicle, originally modelled to run on 100 percent petrol or ethanol of any combination of fuel in a single tank, is expected to be imported to complement the experiment currently underway on the use of fuel expected to take over from fossil.
Mbeza commended Ethco for the pledge and the free ethanol the company is providing for the experiment.
“The Ethanol Company is providing all the ethanol that is being used for the experiments free of charge and is importing a new flex vehicle from Brazil for further experiments. This is a good example of public private partnership,” he said.
According to Mbeza, the experiment on the use of ethanol vehicles has so far not shown any harmful effects to human beings and the environment apart from the release of carbon-dioxide.
He also said the vehicle which was donated by government for the experiment was road tested for over 1,000 kilometres from Nchalo to Mzuzu and Mchinji to Salima and has shown much difference from the petrol-propelled car.
During the road test the vehicle consumed one litre of ethanol for every eight kilometers compared to 10 to 15 kilometres per litre of petrol on new vehicles of the same type.
Mbeza said the project was initiated after a cabinet directive following dwindling reserves of fossil fuels due to increased consumption of fuel.
The research is being implemented in collaboration with the Lilongwe Technical College with K10 million funding from the government which was provided in the 2006/2007 financial budget. |
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