The demand for biofuels in Vietnam has risen exponentially in the last year, with consumption of E5 RON 92 growing by 31 per cent over the last 12 months.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 1.78 million cubic metres of this type of biofuel was consumed in the first six months of 2018, which has helped it account for nearly half (40 per cent) of total petrol use.

Nguyen Loc An, deputy director general of the ministry’s domestic market department, spoke at the Promotion and Development of Bio-fuel Conference in HCM City earlier this week.

He noted there has been an increase in biofuel consumption since Vietnam started nationwide commercial use of the fuel this year, Vietnam News reported.

Speaking with the news provider, Le Xuan Tinh, deputy general director of PV Oil, stated that sales of E5 RON 92 made up half of its fuel transactions during the first half of 2018. This is a significant improvement from the 16 to 18 per cent it accounted for in sales during the same period in 2017.

He said: “Many consumers have switched to biofuel due to the benefit to the environment.”

However, Mr Tinh also recognised many owners of new vehicles are “still reluctant to use it”.

According to Brian D Healy, ethanol export market development manager at US Grains Council, it is not just Vietnam that has seen a huge increase in biofuel consumption recently. Indeed, he stated more than 60 countries have policies for biofuel use, with many of these having expanded significantly over the last decade.

Punjab, for instance, recently revealed its plans to produce biofuel from paddy straw, with as much as 120 to 160 million metric tons available to use for the process every year.

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