Kaduna Produces Fuel From Sugarcane - El-Rufai

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufa’i, said the state Ministry of Science and Technology, incollaboration with Science Technology Forum (STF), has successfully produced bio-ethanol fuel grade from sugarcane.

Governor el-Rufa’i made this known while declaring open an international workshop on biofuel production technology, which took place at the National Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT), Zaria.
Represented by the Permanent Secretary of the state Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Madina Shehu, el-Rufa’i said the government intends to upgrade that initiative into a full scale commercial outfit.
“In line with this initiative, the state government is on the process of constructing another plant at Unguwan Mu’azu to produce bio-diesel from Jatropha Curcas,” el-Rufa’i said.
The Director General of NARICT, Professor Idris Bugaje, in his remarks, advocated for inclusion of biofuel training at the undergraduate, National Certificate in Education (NCE), National and Higher National Diploma levels in order to address the country’s renewable energy challenges.
The don said it is imperative for the country to give emphasis to research on biofuel in view of the fact that renewable energy plays critical role in national growth and development of countries world over, adding that the sector can create job opportunities to the army of the country’s unemployed youths.
Bugaje urged the federal government to prioritise the completion of the Petroleum Training Institute, Kaduna, which was started by late President Umaru Yar’adua, but abandoned after his death.
He also called for the renaming of the institute to Petroleum and Biofuels
Technology Training Institute (PBTTI) in order to expand the mandate of the institute to include biofuel.
Former vice-chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Professor Ango Abdullahi, lamented how Nigeria’s technological breakthroughs and researches are dusting up on the shelves of different tertiary institutions of the country.
Ango said Nigeria needs to find alternative to firewood, otherwise desert encroachment would continue to be one of the predicaments of the country, adding that patriotic leadership can utilise
the resources of Nigeria to address her different challenges.