Can EVs be a win-win for Sri Lanka’s transportation industry? A response

This is a response to the article titled "Can EVs be a win-win for Sri Lanka’s transportation industry?" By Prof. Anura Wijayapala published on 4 January in the Dailly FT (https://www.ft.lk/columns/Can-EVs-be-a-win-win-for-Sri-Lanka-s-transportation-industry/4-757023)

By S.P.Upali.S. Wickramasinghe 

I can very honestly say this is an article I eagerly awaited, when those in the Cabinet spoke volumes about importing Electric Vehicles (EVs).

I am in total disagreement with Prof Wijepala’s stand except his stand on hydrogen propulsion and carbon dioxide emission.

Many of our policymakers, educators in the field had forgotten that the import of coal, crude oil and finished fuel cost the country in the range of 25-30% of the total imports.

The unfortunate aspect of this is that my calls for substitution of these fuels with sources available locally had been ignored in the past not only by those that formulate policies but also by the academia that are treated as experts, but unfortunately very silent passengers.

Let me start this discussion by defining a few of the terms that are currently vogue and used internationally, also in Prof Wijepala’s article.

The concept of air pollution

 The pollution causing gases are generally referred to as   Greenhouse Gases. (GHG) The problem caused by these gases is described as “Gases that trap heat in the atmosphere are called greenhouse gases.”

Greenhouse gases are composed of carbon dioxide (79.4%), methane(11.5%) , nitrous oxide (6.2%) and fluorinated gases (3%). Some politicians and scientists who do not believe in the problems caused by GHG include water vapour also as a causative factor for causing atmospheric problems, addition of CO2 from extraneous sources to the atmosphere. The extraneous sources have their origin from positions 1,000s feet below the ground.  

Of the above methyl alcohol is used in engines but is not very popular, ethyl alcohol is the drinking alcohol and butyl alcohol is used in industry, said to be present in cosmetics.

Even today ethyl alcohol is being used in CIE engines in India, the EU and the US.

In 1952, from 23 October to 6 November the ECAFE conducted a seminar at Lucknow,India on the use of ethanol in motor engines, and subsequently the Indian Alcohol Distillers Association conducted another seminar. A joint project was conducted by a team made up of The MITRE Corporation (USA) University of California, University of Missouri together with Indian Institute of Technology. C. Jyoti Solar Institute in April 1987 on Biomass Gasifier- Engines Systems in India.

At one of these seminars an Indian scientist introduced the concept of a Reboiler in the Rectification column of alcohol distillation plants.  

In conclusion I wish to highlight two aspects of the solution I offer.

Alternate sources of power

 (i) The basic solution is the use of ethyl alcohol, with three state related agencies being the major manufacturers in Sri Lanka (1) Pelwatte Sugar Industry (ii) Sevanagala Sugar Industry (iii) Hingurana Sugar Industry. There was a fourth the Kantale Sugar Industry that was sold to the so-called private sector and destroyed about 35 years ago. 

The alcohol manufactured by the above entities are used for potable (drinking) purposes, a waste of the country's resources. As a country it is cheaper to import the alcohol required by the bottling industry and divert the alcohol produced in those three (four) to operate diesel vehicles. 

That alcohol can be used in petrol vehicles, with minor modifications to the fuel supply system. I have heard some university professors using very high sounding terms to describe the adoption, which to me is pure nonsense. 

The figure given above was taken off an article on Greenhouse Gases by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency.

CO2’s presence is multifarious. It occurs naturally when we light fires, when plants and animals (including) humans respire. These are not included in the dangerous group, but emission of CO2 when fossil fuels e.g. petrol, diesel, coal and kerosene are burned are considered as being toxic to man and animals. The reason being that fossil fuels petroleum and coal are harvested from sources 1,000s feet underground and CO2 released adds to the stock in the atmosphere while that released during the burning of manmade alcohols, paper, etc is considered to be a cog in the natural recycle.

Can we, especially the people of Sri Lanka, get around this problem. Yes. Not only we, even nations in the tropical belt can get out of this problem with what nature has endowed us with- plant crops. More of that later.

Except the motor vehicles (cars) that run on petrol, with internal combustion engines (ICE) that had floundered their petrol/air mix, the damages the fossil fuels caused (petrol) is not visible. Those operating on diesel, the compression ignition engines (CIE) are known to spew out CO2 with particulate matter on a regular basis.

If the parties formulating the national policies are properly advised by our intelligentsia in the universities this problem could have been avoided long ago. Fifty years ago, in 1973, the world had an inkling of the prospects of shortfalls in the supply of fossil fuels. Many countries in the world adopted plans to circumvent this catastrophe. These countries included Brazil, the US majority of the countries in South Asia other than Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Maldives had no choice, they are short of land mass, not so Sri Lanka.

The solution proposed was in the use of alcohol, better known as biofuels. The biofuels that were under study were methyl, ethyl and propyl alcohols, butyl alcohols and pentyl alcohol better known as amyl alcohol.

There is a second system, use of butyl alcohol

 This is an alcohol very close to petrol. David Ramey reported that a vehicle, Buick 15 years old at the time, delivered 25 mpg as opposed to 22mpg with petrol. The trial was conducted through 10,000 miles across America. 

Butyl alcohol production has many advantages. In the fermentation for butyl alcohol three of the by-products are (i) hydrogen (ii) acetone (iii) ethyl alcohol. 

Hydrogen itself is used to motivate motor engines, and in the fuel cells that produce electricity. Photographs of fuel cells on the web indicate that it is the size of a lorry/bus battery. The hydrogen reacts with oxygen in the presence of a catalyst – platinum to produce electricity and water. The system is used in cars and in homes. The Cambridge University developed a system to replace platinum with iron.

It was believed that the microbe to produce butyl alcohol is difficult to find. A student at the Peradeniya University discovered a source, the excreta of elephants. It is said to be found in the excreta of cattle, sheep, goat and even in humans. It is up to the universities to conduct research on this field. 

Butyl alcohol is reputed to have many problems in its separation. It has a reputation as being very expensive to separate. I keep updating myself on the systems adopted to separate butyl alcohol. All reported systems are expensive. 

I have submitted a proposal to reduce the cost of separating ethyl alcohol/ butyl alcohol / acetone/ hydrogen  at a much lower cost, about 90% less costly. Unfortunately the “expert” to whom it was submitted had been silent through the past 20 months, sleeping over it or is ignorant of the context.

World over alcohols are produced from sugarcane, corn or grains. This is an expensive process. Planting and after care has to be repeated annually. Secondly, the yield is low. Sugar cane that provides the highest yield 60-70 tons per hectare  provides only 12-12.5% processable material. The fibre- bagasse is being used but the cost of conversion is high. 

In place of sugar cane there are plants in Sri Lanka, that last over 25 years, with hardly any after care necessary and yielding at least 100 tons/ha/yr.with 100% processable material.

Over to you Prof. Wijayapala . Shall welcome your comments.

(The writer holds a B.Sc (Peradeniya) and a former   Kantale Sugar Industry Distillery Manager and can be reached at [email protected])