Page 182 - Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

Inedible vegetable-oil based biodiesel in Northern Viet Nam 167

Viet Nam is an S-shaped country located in Southeast Asia with a long
coastal line of about 3440km starting from the Gulf of Tonkin to the South
China Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Viet Nam has a tropical monsoonal cli-
mate with high temperature and humidity. The nation has two main climate
regions. In the north, the climate is highly humid tropical monsoon with four
seasons including spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The southern and
central regions have a moderate tropical climate with dry and rainy seasons.
Crude oil, natural gas, and coal are the three essential natural resources in
Viet Nam. With the blooming in the national economy and the increasing
population,theexploitationofcrudeoilhasbeenboostedfordecadesforboth
domestic uses and exportation. Under the current technology, the potential
crude oil reserves of the country have remained at 4.4 billion tonnes since
2011 (US EIA, 2017a). However, as crude oil is a limited resource, current
national crude oil production has decreased by about 20% from 403,000 bar-
rels per day in 2004 to 320,000 barrels per day in 2016 (US EIA, 2017a).
Moreover, although Viet Nam is a net exporter of crude oil, this nation is also
a net importer of oil products in which 67% of total petrodiesel consump-
tionisfromforeignsources(Leetal.,2016;VietNamCustoms,2015).Mean-
while,theworldoilpriceisunstableandfluctuatesyearbyyear.Itiscrucialfor
Viet Nam to diversify its fuel sources.
On the other hand, in Viet Nam, transportation plays an importation role
in the development of the nation as a proper tool to strengthen economic
activities and to support social welfare. However, transportation is also
the most contributor to the increasing air pollution in the urban area, espe-
cially in Ho Chi Minh City (in the South) and Hanoi (in the North), two
most major cities of the nation. Recently, the considerable amount of par-
ticulate matter in the urban ambient air has been a serious problem caused by
the petroleum fuel combustion. On the other hand, Ha Long Bay—Quang
Ninh Province, located in the Northeast of Viet Nam, possesses a stunning
landscape with >1600 of limestone islands and islets. Ha Long has been
inscribed in the Natural World Heritage Sites since 1994 and is one of
the most popular tourist attractions in Viet Nam. However, 550 cruise
boats operating in Ha Long Bay consume about 22,000 kiloliters of fuel
per year leading to several environmental problems in the Bay. Uncollected
solid wastes, wastewater discharge, and fuel oil leakage from those boats are
primary drivers of water quality degradation in this area.
Therefore biofuel in general and biodiesel, in particular, is recognized as
an essentialsolutionfortheenergy insecurityandcurrentenvironmental issue
caused by the transport sector in Viet Nam. In 2007 Viet Nam introduced a