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

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expenditure on petroleum import. Brazil has been able to significantly reduce its foreignexchange burden from imported liquid fuels; for instance the total savings in oil importsbetween 1976 and 1987 are estimated at $12.48 billion whilst the total investment in theprogramme was only $6.97 billion (UNDP, 1994). In addition, domestic production of ethanolincreases energy security in case of energy crisis; the survey (questionnaire to policy makers)revealed that the only measure that has been put in place in case of an oil crisis is 30 daysstocking of petroleum fuels.3.1 Environmental BenefitsIn this section, the environmental benefits that will result from the use of ethanol will beanalysed. The CLD on Figure 5 illustrates the potential environmental benefits of usingethanol.-Petroleum use+ Air pollutionEthanol useCultivation offeedstock for ethanol+Carbon dioxide in the+ atmosphere-++Air pollution relatedhealth problems+Income from jobsand farming-+PovertyEnvironmental degradation(deforestation, overgrazing,overcultivation)+R1+GlobalWarming-Urban environmentalair qualityFigure 5: Environmental benefits of using ethanolEnvironmental Benefits of Using Ethanol: CLD Description 6A decrease in “Petroleum use” leads to a decrease in “Air pollution” since ethanol has lowertoxic emissions than petroleum fuels. A decrease in “Air pollution” leads to an increase in“Urban environmental quality” since there will be fewer emissions in the atmosphere. Adecrease in “Air pollution” leads to a decrease in “Air pollution related health problems” thatare caused by the pollutants that are emitted by petroleum fuels.A decrease in “Petroleum use” leads to a decrease in “Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere”since the combustion of petroleum releases carbon dioxide that had been previously storedunderground in oil reserves into the atmosphere. A decrease in “Carbon dioxide in the6 The dotted arrows discussed under economic and social benefits of figure 415
atmosphere” leads to a decrease in “Global Warming” since Carbon dioxide is one thegreenhouse gases.An increase in the “Cultivation of feedstock” leads to a decrease in “Carbon dioxide in theatmosphere” as the planted crop absorbs during photosynthesis the carbon dioxide releasedduring combustion of ethanol since an increase in “Ethanol use” leads to an increase in“Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere” which leads to an increase in “Global Warming”.REINFORCING LOOP (R1)A decrease in “Poverty” leads to a decrease in “Environmental degradation (deforestationovergrazing overcultivation” because people will depend less on their immediate surroundingenvironment for survival. On the other hand a decrease in “Environmental degradation(deforestation overgrazing overcultivation)” leads to a decrease in “Poverty” because the landwill be more productive thus offer better yield.A decrease in “Environmental degradation (deforestation overgrazing overcultivation)” leadsto a decrease in “Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere” through carbon dioxide sequestration bycrops and forests.Global WarmingEthanol like other bio-based fuels when combusted, the CO 2 remains in a closed eco-cycle asthe amount of CO 2 released during combustion equals the amount plants absorb for growthUNEP (2000) during the process of photosynthesis. In light of the Kyoto protocol that hascalled on countries to cut down their CO 2 emissions, adopting ethanol would reduce the netbuild up of CO 2 by reducing the use of petroleum fuels and poverty induced deforestationpractices (CLD on Figure 5 and CLD on Figure 1) thereby cutting down Kenya’s contributionto global warming. The ethanol programme in Brazil is responsible for a net abatement of 9million tonnes of carbon a year in Brazil (UNDESA - UNDP - WEC, 2000). While the resultsof a study from the United States indicate that in the year 2003/2004, the use of ethanol fuelsin the USA reduced greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 5.7 million tons, equal toremoving the annual emissions of more than 853,000 cars from the road (OCGA, 2005;WFBF, 2005)Urban Air PollutionUsing ethanol fuel for transport will improve urban air quality (CLD on Figure 5) becausewhen compared to gasoline fuels it produces fewer emissions and also because using ethanolreduces the amount of gasoline pollutants that would have been emitted by gasoline (WB,1994). With as low as 10% ethanol blends lower tailpipe emissions of total hydrocarbon andcarbon monoxide emissions can be observed (Niven, 2004). In addition there are lower levelsof particulate matter (Mulawa et al., 1997; Niven, 2004; Poulopoulos et al., 2001) and lowernitrogen oxides (HE et al., 2003). Sulphur emissions are reduced and can be completelyabated when pure ethanol is used (Moreira et al., 1997).Some areas are still using leaded gasoline. In this case, ethanol can be used as a cheaperoctane booster instead of tetraethyl lead (Thomas, 2001). There is a global agreement to phaseout lead in gasoline due its adverse neurological effects especially in children (Thomas et al.,2001). It was noted during the field survey that in Kenya the sale of leaded gasoline was stillgoing on. The reason could be that the oil refinery plant in Kenya has been unable to produceunleaded gasoline due to the high cost needed for upgrading it (Ministry of Energy, 2005)16
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 and 10: The oil crisis and low sugar prices
Page 11 and 12: patterns that may be used to predic
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: need for higher agricultural growth
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

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