Expansion in the production of ethanol as a renewable energy source is being facilitated by a $1 billion upgrading exercise at ethanol plants at Rockfort and at Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston.

Speaking in the 2004/05 Sectoral Debate in the House on May 12, Commerce, Science and Technology Minister, Phillip Paulwell said that $400 million would be used to improve capacity at the Marcus Garvey Drive plant, while some $600 million would go towards expanding the capacity at Rockfort.

The Minister pointed out that the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is expected to enter into a joint venture agreement with a Brazilian company to improve the capacity of the ethanol plant on Marcus Garvey Drive to 40 million gallons per year.

He added that the Board of Jamaica Ethanol Processing Limited and Caribbean Pacific Alcohol Limited has indicated its decision to substantially increase the processing capacity of the Rockfort plant by 30 per cent to 50 million gallons per annum.

Mr. Paulwell explained that the emphasis for the current financial year was energy diversification, and that such efforts would include, “stimulating the development of an ethanol industry for both domestic consumption and the export market”.

He added that ethanol would eventually replace MTBE as an octane enhancer in gasoline, due to environmental considerations, and that there was now an international thrust to phase out its use by 2007.

The Minister pointed out that ethanol was a renewable fuel that could be produced from organic material or biomass feedstock, such as sugar cane, corn or municipal solid waste. He also noted that the fuel mix was very efficient and reduces emission levels, while the technology was such that it required virtually no modification to engines.