Zim’s biofuels: A ‘happy accident’

years ago.
More than anything else, this has been a direct response to the country’s fuel crisis of 2003-2009 and an attempt to gain some energy independence.
Zimbabwe, which is heavily dependent on imports for its fuel needs, scarcely had the environment in mind when it discontinued ethanol production.

If at all it had, then it would have cared to breathe life in an eco-friendly project that had been running since 1979, sustaining jobs and limiting emissions of greenhouse gases.
But the sudden focus on the production of sustainable clean technologies in the form of bio-diesel and ethanol has resulted in two “happy accidents”.
The first happy accident is that biofuels such as those targeted by Zimbabwe will help keep the climate happy and, secondly, will create employment for rural folks and help alleviate poverty.

In a world where global warming is now a major concern, Zimbabwe’s biofuels project fits perfectly well in the puzzle of solutions needed to address climate change.
Government and industry studies project that the country will eliminate, in excess, 20 percent of its fuel imports through the production of bio-diesel and ethanol as replacements.
Zimbabwe is currently constructing a 100-million litre per annum ethanol plant in Chisumbanje.

The US$600 million project, which is being developed with a private foreign investor, Green Fuel, will use sugarcane as feedstock.
Over the next decade Government targets to put 50 000 hectares under sugarcane at Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi Estates, of which 10 000 hectares will be grown by local farmers as part of an outgrower scheme.
Ethanol production was due to start in the first quarter of this year but now running late because of several factors including lack of adequate inputs.

Zimbabwe is targeting a blending of both ethanol and bio-diesel of more than 20 percent from its current efforts and would require at least 80 million litres of ethanol and 100 million litres of bio-diesel to be produced by 2017.
In 1975, Triangle Limited initiated a plan to produce ethanol using surplus molasses from the production of sugar.

Production subsequently started four years later, producing environmental benefits, skills transfer and clean fuel for blending with petrol.
This is the programme that was discontinued in 1992 because of higher blended fuel prices.
However, in 2009 Triangle Limited and Hippo Valley – Zimbabwe’s two largest sugar producers – restarted production of fuel grade ethanol.

More than one million litres of ethanol is being produced at this plant mainly for the export market. Triangle can be exploited for full-scale commercial blending.
The bio-diesel plant will use the jatropha carcus plant as feedstock.
This plant, which can be grown in most regions of Zimbabwe including arid and semi-arid areas, will again be contracted to local farmers.

Zimbabwe targets 120 000 hectares of jatropha to supply its 35 million litre-capacity bio-diesel refinery plant built just outside Harare, the biggest of its kind south of the Sahara.
The Government’s bio-diesel plan is to promote feedstock production that does not threaten food security.
However, the bio-diesel project has stalled because of lack of funding and failure by farmers to adopt jatropha and establish plantations, which are adequate for feedstock generation.

At the end of 2010, the National Oil Company of Zimbabwe, which was mandated by Government to promote and produce jatropha, estimated that only 30 000 hectares were under the plant and moreover the plantations were still immature.
There has also been a duplication of duties between the ministries of Energy and Power Development, Science and Technology and Agriculture, which have all been involved in the development of biofuels.
This has negatively affected the commercial production of bio-diesel and in the absence of Government funding, expansion in this sector will remain a great challenge.

However, through the development of bio-fuels, Zimbabwe has taken a step in the right direction by trying to eliminate its own fuel inefficiencies and dependence on imports.
The use of sustainable agricultural products to produce energy is a clear sign that the country is committed to investing in eco-friendly technologies, and satisfies its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol.
This international protocol commits governments to implement policies and strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Other downstream benefits include the empowerment of jatropha and sugarcane farmers, which is their own unassumed response to the search for and production of sustainable fuels.
Biofuels reduce exhaust smoke emissions by about 75 percent and reduce carbon emissions by around 80 percent. A light vehicle is estimated to emit up to 1 000kg of carbon for every 5 000km travelled.
Biofuels will greatly reduce this and will also develop sustainable energy, industry and agriculture.

In 2001, Zimbabwe introduced a carbon tax to try and deal with the menace of carbon emissions and air pollution caused by increased traffic density and the rapid urbanisation.
The average carbon tax for both heavy and light vehicles is US$15 per year calculated according to the engine capacity of the car.
Thus, the country could generate up to US$10,5 million per annum, say from 700 000 vehicles, both light and heavy, with engine capacity of between 1 500cc and 3 000cc.

We don’t really know how the responsible ministry administers this fund, but if applied correctly it can be very useful in the fight against climate change, particularly carbon emissions from the transport sector.
In the absence of external funding, levies and taxes must be employed to raise funds for the development of cleaner and sustainable energies such as wind, solar and natural gas.
The public and private sectors’ build, operate and transfer approach can as well be adopted for the development of other eco-friendly energies just as happened with ethanol.

Zimbabwe’s efforts in raising green financing from domestic sources under very pressing economic conditions must surely count for something when it approaches international organisations for climate change funding.

The World Bank had under its climate investment fund some US$6,5 billion at the end of 2010 and is targeting to raise this amount to US$50 billion from private capital.
Zimbabwe has found it difficult to access such kind of financing to fund climate change programmes for political reasons.
But political decisions must not stand in the way of reason and social justice, the country deserves unfettered access to international funding for its anti-global warming initiatives.
What is your company and community doing to safeguard the environment from climate change?

Let me know.
God is faithful.