The Dong Xanh (Green Field) Joint-stock Company inaugurated a biological fuel Ethanol refinery in the central province of Quang Nam on April 2, making it the first “green gas” producer in Vietnam.

The Dai Loc Ethanol Refinery, built at a cost of over 600 billion VND (roughly 28.8 million USD), has an annual capacity of 100,000 tonnes of Ethanol or 125 million litres.

The factory has test-run since September, 2010, rolling out 12.000 tonnes of Ethanol so far for both domestic use and export.

Once running to full blast, it will employ over 300 work-hands and provide well-paid incomes for some 20,000 local cassava growers.

Dregs of cassava left from Ethanol production will be recycled into biological fertilisers to be sold to local farmers at prices lower than the market average.

As a result, Quang Nam and its neighbouring city of Da Nang have contributed six gas stations where E5 gas (with five percent of Ethanol) is available, to the nation’s total 40 similar gas stations selling this clean energy.

The refinery has planned to provide “green gas” for some 200 retail points nationwide by the end of 2011./.