tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2826052015106187079.post6872473894817259842..comments2023-09-21T04:20:09.309-07:00Comments on HastingsZidana AND Lake Malawi Biodiversity:: Ethanol-driven vehicle under test in MalawiHastingsZidanahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18010108614961810152noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2826052015106187079.post-78344065147048424742007-01-11T14:08:00.000-08:002007-01-11T14:08:00.000-08:00Ethanol driven vehicle tests successful
BY PATRIC...Ethanol driven vehicle tests successful<br /><br />BY PATRICK MSOWOYA<br />06:05:06 - 11 January 2007<br /><br />PRIMARY tests for an ethanol-propelled vehicle, a modified <br />Mitsubishi Pajero, have been very successful, a lead researcher on the project Freeman Kalilani has said.<br /><br />He said in an interview Wednesday the test was conducted on December 27 last year when the ethanol driven Pajero covered a distance of about 350 kilometers from Lilongwe to Mzuzu while the second test took the Pajero from Lilongwe to Chikwawa on 2nd January 2007.<br /><br />“I am happy to tell you that the vehicle performed far beyond our expectations. The tests have been very successful in that the vehicle managed to cover the set distances without any problems at all,” said Kalilani.<br /><br />The five-year US$1 million (K140 million) project is jointly implemented by the Department of Science and Technology and the Ethanol Company of Malawi.<br /><br />It is aimed at investigating the use of locally manufactured ethanol in the flex fuel vehicles that use a combination of ethanol and petrol or those that use pure ethanol.<br /><br />Deputy Director of the Department of Science and Technology Kendron Chisale told reporters recently in Lilongwe that the use of ethanol would mitigate climate change related disasters in accordance to the agreement made by parties at the 2006 United <br />Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi.<br /><br />Apart from its advantages on the environment, the ethanol project is largely expected to boost employment in the sugar industry.<br /><br />Malawi is also poised to cut on foreign exchange spending, which currently goes down the drain in the importation of fossil fuels like petrol and diesel.<br /><br />Malawi currently produces big volumes of ethanol from sugar molasses produced at Dwangwa Sugar Corporation in Nkhotakota district, but heavily relies on the imported fossil fuels, which sometimes have negative impacts on the climate and the entire ecosystem.HastingsZidanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18010108614961810152noreply@blogger.com