Adding Value to Rice Husk in the Mekong Delta Region, Vietnam

Can Tho City, 5th May 2017 -The project “Bio-waste minimisation and valorisation for low carbon production in the rice sector”, organises a workshop with stakeholders and rice millers in the Mekong delta.

This event is part of the initiative that is being carried out by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation under the "Climate Technology Center and Network (CTCN_)_" project implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

The aim of the workshop is focused on two key areas: the valorisation tool that can help rice millers to evaluate the most viable valorisation route for their rice husk resource and on the development of viable business cases.

The production of rice keeps increasing in Vietnam due to the expansion of the rice cultivation area and increased yields. This presents opportunities for effective solutions to utilisation of the rice residues, including husks, and offers a large potential for new or existing companies in Vietnam to produce fuels and/or energy from excess rice husks.

“Most studies in Vietnam related to biomass potential focus on theoretical or technical potentials only. This particular approach is considered unsatisfactory, discounting factors such as current use, sustainability, ownership, distribution and seasonality, and typically results in overestimating the resource potential. Under this project we aim to improve the rice husk value chain and reduce its carbon footprint, by providing tools that rationalize options of utilisation that help decision-making processes of investments.__” said Bastiaan Teune, Energy Sector Leader at SNV Vietnam.

The outcomes of this event provide analysis and selection of optimal valorisation routes for a number of rice millers. The tool combines technical, economic and sustainability performance criteria along the chain (from feedstock production to processing and end-product use). Subsequently the project will help to develop fundable business plans together with rice millers and investors to put theory in practice and to demonstrate and upscale green growth pathways.