7 November, 2007 - Ajinomoto Co. has pledged it will switch from oil to rice hulls for most of the fuel consumed at a key seasonings plant in northern Thailand by the end of 2008.
The plant ferments sugars and starches extracted from sugar cane and cassava to produce seasonings and will produce steam for this fermentation process in boilers that use rice hulls for fuel.
The rice hulls, which often remain unused, will be purchased from farmers in the surrounding area.
This will be the first time Ajinomoto, based in Japan, has used biomass fuel at an overseas production site.
Biomass fuel is considered to produce no carbon-dioxide emissions when burned because the gas is absorbed by plants as they grow.
Consequently, switching to rice hulls will reduce Ajinomoto's annual carbon dioxide emissions by around 100,000 tons, or nearly 5 per cent of its group's annual total.