Yesterday, November 23, 2005, Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (Petrojam) officially opened the Petrojam Ethanol Dehydration Plant at Marcus Garvey Drive, Kingston. Coinex, a Brazilian firm is a partner in the plant. Initially the plant will supply the United States with 150 million litres of ethanol per year. Over a period of time this figure is expected to increase by 70 million bringing the total capacity to 220 million litres per year.

Ethanol can be produced chemically from ethylene or biologically from the fermentation of various sugars from carbohydrates found in agricultural crops. The majority of the ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, but it can also be produced from other feedstocks such as grain sorghum, wheat, barley, or potatoes. Brazil, the world's largest ethanol producer, makes the fuel from sugarcane.

Follow up:

Ethanol is also known as grain alcohol or ethyl alcohol. It is most commonly used in alcoholic beverages; however, it may also be used as a fuel. Pure, 100% ethanol is not generally used as a motor fuel; for the most part, it is used in a 9:1 ratio of gasoline to ethanol. This is beneficial because the ethanol decreases the fuel's cost, increases the fuel's octane rating and decreases gasoline's harmful emissions.
Ethanol is highly biodegradable, making it safer for the environment.
It contains 35% oxygen, making it burn more cleanly and completely than any other fuel. Ethanol blends are likely to reduce carbon monoxide emissions in vehicles by 10% - 30%, depending upon the combustion technology. According to the American Lung Association of Metropolitan Chicago ethanol-blended fuel has reduced smog-forming emissions by 25% since 1990. Ethanol also has a lower BTU value than gasoline, meaning that ethanol burns cooler and is gentler on the vehicle's engine - less wear and tear leads to longer engine life.
A new supply of ethanol can be "grown" each year, in contrast to the millions of years needed to produce fossil fuel-based energy sources.

All the feedstock for the Petrojam Ethanol Dehydration Plant in Jamaica will initially be supplied by the Brazil-based Coinex. However there is an opportunity for the local sugar industry to save itself. Recently the Government announced the possible closure of two of the island’s sugar plants, Long Pond and Bernard Lodge.
The Jamaican Government plans, to ban the use of MTBE as a fuel additive and replace it with locally produced ethanol, which is more environmentally friendly. A pilot project is to be conducted on fuel including 10 per cent ethanol beginning May 01, 2006. Should the project be successful MTBE would then be banned, as it has been in California. The Government’s long-term goal is for Jamaica to use gasoline being made of 25 per cent ethanol, the same proportion as used in Brazil. According to Petrojam, it would require the planting of 9,000 additional hectares of sugar cane, to supply 57 million litres for local gasoline. The Petrojam Ethanol Dehydration Plant could be part of the answer for the Jamaican cane farmers.
Nuff Love