EU MP warns Suriname’s Staatsolie against ethanol

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Swedish EU parliamentarian Olle Schmidt advises Staatsolie not to implement its plans for producing ethanol fuel. During a presentation about the project given by the oil company to visiting ACP-EU parliamentarians yesterday, he claims the impression was given that there is no problem with producing this fuel. “I am reluctant to say that ethanol is the right way to go. These large ethanol projects have not lived up to their sustainable expectations. We have to be cautious, at least,” Schmidt says. He is no supporter of producing ethanol fuel because it hampers sustainable development and more CO2 would be released. Yet Rudolf Elias, Staatsolie’s project director of Refinery Expansion, claims this way of producing fuel is environmentally friendly and will yield the country more revenues. Schmidt doubts these benefits. Other ACP-EU delegates were impressed with the oil company’s achievement and plans for the future. Many guests wanted to know Staatsolie has achieved this and within how much time. The delegates were also given a tour of the plant where the new refinery is under construction. Staatsolie’s managing director Mark Waaldijk was pleased representatives from other countries were visiting. He called it a good opportunity to “make new friends,” particularly the representatives of the “smaller countries that are having the same problems as us.” Contact information has been exchanged and “a follow-up will certainly come.”