blogosphere return ( sorry no pix)

18th July 2010
Back to the Blogosphere on now what is my forth Sojourn into Laos.
I have added a few new e-mails on the circulation list and as always please let me know if you would like me to take you off the circulation list. I am pleased to say that nobody has requested me to do so. So that proves their spam filter must be working.
Slight change of format this time, I had a number of comments from my previous blogs that there was too much technical stuff, it’s a fair point I tend to get carried away with the finite technical detail, which at the time for me is very interesting, but being viewed remotely from a blog can be a little irrelevant. To get round this I will post the technical stuff on my other ‘technical blog’ www.erawan-biogas.blogspot.com ( no new posts yet )and reference it in this the main blog for those who have a technical interest. I am also using the technical blog as a resource and information exchange for people working on similar projects around the world. I hope this all makes sense, now if we are all sitting comfortably then we shall begin.
I have jus arrived Saturday 17th July flying Laos Airlines, the worlds only cash only airline, I got the ticket from there Bangkok office in Silom plaza which is the size of a small chemist shop, they only accept cash and then write your ticket out by hand, ‘quaint’. Then worked my way up to the airport for the one hour flight from Bangkok Suvahnibum airport to Vientiane Wattay international airport on one of Laos airline fleet of Chinese made M60’s. There is simply no reason to be apprehensive about flying Laos Airlines over that of say other major airlines, they have a reputation of bouncing around a bit in heavy weather and of course this has more to do with the size of the aircraft rather than its mechanical integrity, however although I am one of the worlds least spiritual individuals I paid a visit to the airport temple to make merit and keep good Karma on my side. What the hell whilst I’m about it I went to the chapel and the mosque as well. Might as well go for the trifecta.
Now feeling very at home in the country which has still not made the technological breakthrough of keeping the shower head in one position when you are having shower; I am sorry I am winging already, must break that habit. Speaking of winging, I now have managed to watch the ‘Top Gear Vietnam special’ which I did purely for research purposes. Quality entertainment I must admit but I do wonder of the ‘magic’ of television. I do remember back in my youth taking a day trip to Skegness from where I lived in Leicester a distance of 70 miles on a new Honda CD175, by comparison a luxury item to what the ‘Top gear’ squad were riding and I needed at least 3 ‘bum breaks’ there and back, the idea of a middle aged man covering a 1000 miles on a Honda C50 Cub and not complain about a sore arse ( especially when you have found just about everything else to complain about) is not in the real world. Any how my 2¢ done.
This trip only short about 3 weeks I am on secondment to The Laos institute of renewable energy (LIRE) specifically to work on a project in conjunction with the Laos ministry of agriculture and the Laos governments Poverty Alleviation Program. This is to produce biodiesel from a plant called Jatropha (known in the west as Physic nut). Never actually seen any yet but it is a widely spread plant in Asian parts. Has a number of benefits, first up it is poisonous (apparently only about 3 will kill you) because of this it is used for hedging, (livestock wont eat it), it is very fast growing and has a high lipid content (oil) and grows in marginal land i.e. does not require arable land to grow so in theory should not replace existing cash crops such as rice and ……………. rice.
My personal interest in this is two fold, firstly as part of the Laos government poverty alleviation program is to generate income to some of the more impoverished regions of Laos which put quite simply is a very fulfilling thing to do. Also gives me a great sense of smug satisfaction when I talk to HR consultants for doing something worth while with my life (oddly enough you get the same sense of smug satisfaction from HR consultants for precisely the same reason).
Secondly is to throw my hat into the ring with the whole sustainable energy issue a subject I am very passionate about.
There are many pro and con arguments for and against biodiesel manufactured from arable feedstock, all of which have validity. My own personal belief is it is not the answer but could be part of the solution if handled correctly. One of the good things I have found working at Lire is the focus of the programs, As part of the proposed solution is not to fall into the trap of the Indonesian palm oil fiasco, something which seems like a good idea can soon turn into a complete nightmare for everyone except for a handful of commodity brokers and speculators in the financial capitals of the world. Nothing new there then.
The primary focus for the project is poverty alleviation so I can’t see the hillsides of Laos being slashed and burnt for the production of Jatropha anytime in the future; Laos State Oil Company is not going to challenge BP or Exxon for market share.
I am part of a team comprising of about 10 individuals who have been communicating so far via a Google group. (We are spread pretty far and wide). And as far as the program goes we are early doors. My involvement specifically, although I am sure I will be cajoled into performing other tasks, is the processing the oil produced by the Jatropha into a biodiesel which is not only useable but to a high enough quality to be recognised by an international standard. The process by which this is done has the ridiculous name of ‘Transesterification’ a process which removes the long chain fatty acids which occur naturally in the oil by loosing a proton somewhere (have you looked down the back of the sofa). Anyhow won’t go into too much detail here see Erawan-biogas.blogspot.com but I do no it involves the use of some unpleasant chemicals, vast amounts of hot oil and extremely tight quality control. If you picture the places where all this is going to take place i.e.: small isolated villages in deep jungle, you start to see some of the ‘challenges’ that lie ahead. ‘Quality control’ and ‘OH&S’, it has to be said in all fairness, are not phrases which are banded around in Laos very often.
Anyhoo
I will start on Monday, Tomorrow picking up my wheels and hopefully getting some laundry done.

TTFN