Chamber of Commerce seminar

Replacement of furnace oil with biomass fuel:

"Economic aspects of fuel switching and the application of Carbon Credits for fuel switching project", a seminar organized by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce will take place at the Ground Floor West Wing of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on February 15, from 2.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m.

The Resource Person would be Ministry of Science and Technology Alternative Energy Division, Director P.G. Joseph.

It is expected that the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) would raise the price of furnace oil due to the increasing price of fuel in the world market. It is certain that when these rises are implemented, industries in Sri Lanka will face further hardships. On the initiatives taken by the engineering community, a number of industries in Sri Lanka have already resolved this problem by switching to much cheaper and renewable biomass fuel to generate industrial heat energy.

A number of private sector companies have already entered this arena by providing all the services required to change over from Petroleum to biomass fuels. These activities would include the total supply chain management including cultivation of biomass, harvesting, transporting and processing. Some of these companies have engaged in providing total solutions including the purchase of boiler, installation operation etc. Factories which have converted from petroleum fuel to biomass-based fuel will be entitled to benefits from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Under this Mechanism, these factories will be able to receive "Carbon Credits" in proportion to the annual amount of fossil fuel replaced. These credits could be sold in the international market.

This would enable such projects to obtain adequate return on their investments. Apart from gaining direct monetary benefits, such companies engaging in these ventures also gain popularity as "Green Companies" thus attracting popular customers for their products and services.