The petroleum products dealers are obligated to blend and that the Uganda National Bureau of Standards will develop standards to be followed by bio-fuels producers.
The country, in order to reduce the cost of commodity and food prices is working on this option as transportation cost is increasing the price of consumer goods which in turn is dependent on imported fossil fuels. Therefore, replacing and/or blending petrol with ethanol will serve the purpose.
Ethanol has lower energy content than gasoline (petrol) as a result of which about one-third more ethanol is required to travel the same distance as on gasoline. But other ethanol features, including a high octane rating, result in increased engine efficiency and performance.
Sugar, grain and oil crops can be used for ethanol and bio-diesel feedstock, but the country has yet to develop a program for harnessing this potential. Crude ethanol is already being produced from molasses, cassava, sorghum and millet, but it is being consumed as beverage alcohol.
In 2008, a mission from Brazil had come to initiate cooperation between Brazil and Uganda on ethanol production. If things fall in line, Uganda will soon be producing ethanol from sugarcane and other crops and at the same time, increasing food production using the high technologies already being implemented in Brazil.
