The date palms that have provided nourishment to desert caravans across the centuries could soon be fuelling cars. Omani entrepreneur Mohammed bin Saif al-Harthy and his associates at the Oman Green Energy Company have come up with a way to transform extracts from the region's ubiquitous date palm into biofuel.
He knows it works, because he has been using the fuel to run his own car for months. Now he has a licence from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to set up a $28 million ethanol plant in Oman's energy centre of Sohar, with a capacity of 900,000 litres a day.
The plant is due to be ready in early 2008 and Harthy hopes to export up to 80 percent of his finished product to meet growing world demand for alternative energy as well as to set up a chain of biofuel filling stations in Oman by 2010.
"I was back in the United States and people were trying to make diesel from cooking oil. I liked the idea and I thought I would give it a try. So that is how it all began," he told Reuters in a telephone interview. "I've been using the fuel in my car with no problems but we need to do a proper study on the full effects and they should be known by 2010. We hope we will be the first in the Arab world." Independent oil producer Oman exports around 650,000 barrels per day of crude and has been battling to reverse a decline in output since 2001.
Like most Gulf countries that rely heavily on crude exports, Oman has been diversifying its economy before oil supplies dwindle and demand rises for eco-friendly energy sources. Yet environmental awareness remains low in the Gulf, where people drive petrol-guzzling four-wheel-drives and pay little at the pump. Harthy hopes to lure motorists away from gasoline by offering even lower prices.
"I believe we are very cheap and can compete with the big firms," he said. "It is cheaper and environmentally friendly. I believe it can help reduce CO2 emissions."