ethanol fuel production and use in kenya for sustainable ... - lumes

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TimeThe questionnaires for the research were to be done via the post and email. This delayed theproject as about three weeks were spent waiting for the questionnaires which were importantfor the background information on ethanol to be sent back. None of them were sent backrequiring personal travel to the field which was time-consuming.Financial Resources:This limited the field survey to Nairobi which is the capital city and Chuka since these twotowns were easily accessible and had cheaper accommodation.Literature:It was difficult to get clear information on the status of ethanol in Kenya and what led to theshut down of the ethanol plant that had been put up in the 80s.Field data:There was sufficient data from the field due to the low response to the questionnaires howeverthe interview sessions were successful. From the study it was observed that questionnairesmay not be have been the best way to obtain data from the field especially from governmentoffices since it appeared that all that filled in the questionnaires had been copied from the onesource the end result was a collection of uniformly answered questionnaires and a reportcontaining the same information. Consequently the study focused on the data from the booksand reports given since the answers had been lifted one by word from them. Other problemsincluded that some interviewees were unwilling to give information unless bribed this made itdifficult to know which people genuinely did not know the answers or those that wanted tipsin order to speak.The sugar beet farmers’ questionnaires were only used to counter check the range of figuresinformation contained in the reports (Kiriita 2001, 2002 and 2003) as these reports containedfield data from the same farmers. In addition these questionnaires were only from Centralprovince an area that does not grow sugarcane thus for the comparisons on the productioncosts between sugarcane and sugar beet, the information from (Mumias sugar Company 2003reports were used) since it had both the costs for sugarcane and for the sugar beets.1.2.2 Data Analysis:The data findings were analysed using;• Comparative analysis: This was done on the impacts of petroleum and ethanol on thethree spheres of sustainable development which comprise of the social, economic andenvironmental dimensions.• Literature review: Where government reports, scientific journals, reports from sugarbeet trial fields and case studies mainly from Brazil were used for the analysis.• Causal Loop Diagrams (CLDs) were used for the conceptual model and thepresentation of results. A CLD is a tool that is used in systems analysis approach tounderstand causes and effects, to describe reality through causalities between variablesand how they form a dynamic circular influence (Haraldsson, 2004). It is used toobserve the world through feedbacks rather than linearly and observes repeated3
patterns that may be used to predict the behaviour in the problem (Haraldsson, 2004).The shortcoming of the CLD is that not all factors can be included in the diagramhowever several sub-systems can be created.1.2.2.1 The Concept of Causal Loop Diagrams (CLD)• “The arrow shows causality. A variable at the tail of the arrow causes a change to thevariable at the head.• A plus (+) sign near the arrowhead indicates that the variable at the tail and the headof the arrow change in the same direction (if the tail increases the head increases or ifthe tail decreases the head decreases)• While a minus (-) sign near the arrow head indicates that the variable at the tail of thearrow and the variable at the head of the arrow change in the opposite direction (if thetail decreases the head increases)• The letter R in the middle of the loop indicates that the loop is a reinforcing behaviourin the same direction, causing either a systematic growth or decline. It is a behaviourthat is moving away from equilibrium point.• The letter B in the middle of the loop indicates that the loop is balancing and movesthe system in the direction towards equilibrium or fluctuation around equilibriumpoint” (Haraldsson, 2004).2.0 BACKGROUNDIn this section the social, economic and environmental impacts encountered from Kenya’sdependence on petroleum fuels are presented.2.1 An overview of Kenya’s Dependence on PetroleumThe general overview of Kenya’s dependence on petroleum will be presented with the aid of aCLD (Figure 1) and a graph (figure 2). CLD descriptions are further discussed in detail in thesub-sections of the paper.4
Page 1 and 2: LUND UNIVERSITYInternational Master
Page 3 and 4: AcknowledgementsI would like to tha
Page 5 and 6: Table of ContentsAbstract .........
Page 7 and 8: List of acronymsACE - Atmosphere Cl
Page 9: The oil crisis and low sugar prices
Page 13 and 14: REINFORCING LOOP (R1)An increase in
Page 15 and 16: World Oil Prices and Inflation Tren
Page 17 and 18: the strengthened greenhouse effect
Page 19 and 20: Available arable land(carrying capa
Page 21 and 22: need for higher agricultural growth
Page 23 and 24: atmosphere” leads to a decrease i
Page 25 and 26: evaporative emissions reacts with h
Page 27 and 28: particulate emissions from cane fie
Page 29 and 30: the yields on table 1 probably beca
Page 31 and 32: pastoralists and thus do not cultiv
Page 33 and 34: contributes to global warming. Petr
Page 35 and 36: Gariazzo et al. (2005) Monitoring a
Page 37 and 38: Tsai, et al. (2005) A Hematology Su
Page 39 and 40: Fossil fuels1. Does the country imp

ethanol fuel production and use in kenya for sustainable ... - lumes

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