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

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4.5.1 PolicyOne of the barriers that could be encountered in reintroducing ethanol would be the policyframework. From the field survey and from the energy policy paper “Sessional paper onEnergy” prepared by the Ministry of Energy, that very little attention has been directed to thepotentials of renewable fuels and alcohol fuels such as ethanol get even lesser attention whichfeatures briefly in the long term policies. All efforts seem to be directed to petroleum fuelsand exploration for possible domestic reserves of fossil fuels even though the results havebeen negative ever since the 1950s.In addition there was a general lack of awareness of ethanol fuels and their potential bothamong the general public and the policy makers in the energy sector; questionnaires werefilled with “I don’t know” on the section on ethanol while others claimed that ethanol fuelswere not a form of energy. It would thus be difficult for ethanol to be introduced in thecountry if the people working in the energy sector do not know what ethanol is or whatpotentials can be derived from it.The study suggests that there be increased awareness among the policy makers and thegeneral public on the potential social, economic and environmental benefits of ethanolproduction and use in the country. Such awareness campaigns could be initiated by nongovernmental organisations operating in country especially those that deal with developmentand energy matters.Secondly, the study suggests that the Sessional paper on energy be revised with the aim ofshifting focus away from the dependence on petroleum fuels to the adoption of cleaner andrenewable forms of fuel under which ethanol falls.4.5.2 FinancialPutting up ethanol plants could be expensive to the government and may therefore requireexternal funding. However the possibilities of getting funding from the global environmentfacility (GEF) which is programme that provides funding to help less developed countries toimplement measures to protect the environment, should be exploited. Secondly privateinvestors and companies could be encouraged to invest in ethanol production through theprovision of soft loans and incentives such as tax reduction.5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS5.1 ConclusionFrom the study it was observed that structured questionnaires may not be have been the bestway to obtain data from the field especially from government offices and that in-depthinterviews were more successful. However the study concludes that currently Kenya dependson imported petroleum to run its commercial sector and is thus is a prime mover of themodern economy in Kenya. Nevertheless, the dependence on imported petroleum causes tradeimbalance and inflation during periods of high oil prices which have a stagnating effect on thesocial development and economic growth of the country. In addition to the negative impactsof petroleum fuels on socio-economic growth, use of petroleum, emits CO 2 that a gas that25
contributes to global warming. Petroleum further releases CO, NOx and SO 2 which causehuman health problems. Further petroleum oil reserves are non-renewable and hence can bedepleted in the long-term.Ethanol is not currently being produced in Kenya, but its adoption can generate both on farmand off farm jobs. In addition, unlike petroleum it is a cleaner energy form; it emits lower CO,NOx, SO 2 and lead. It also does not lead to the net increase of CO 2 in the atmosphere.However the use of ethanol fuel releases high amounts of aldehydes and can causegroundwater and soil contamination. Since ethanol is produced from biomass crops that canbe produced locally, it can reduce trade imbalance as well as provide a reliable renewablesource of energy in the long term.Thus when compared to petroleum fuel imports, the social, economic and environmentalbenefits of ethanol are much more for ethanol than for petroleum while the negative impactson the social economic and environmental dimensions, petroleum fuels have much morenegative impacts than ethanol.Thus the study concluded that the production and use of ethanol fuel in Kenya is more has thepotential to be more sustainable than the reliance on fossil fuels. However the sustainability ofethanol production will largely be influenced by government policies and farm managementpractices.5.2 RecommendationsThe paper makes the following recommendations:• The study recommends that to start of the ethanol production and use in the country,the government should give some form of incentives and subsidies either for instanceas tax reduction for ethanol or additional taxes for gasoline so that ethanol it cancompete with gasoline. Also tax reductions could be offered to the people thatpurchase cars that run on ethanol.• Secondly, soft loans should be provided to private investors willing to invest inethanol production.• The study also recommends that the introduction of ethanol blended with gasoline befirst and gradually shift to neat ethanol as production becomes stable.• The government should carry out more research on the potentials of ethanolproduction and also on ethanol management technologies to reduce negativeenvironmental risks for instance groundwater and soil contamination.• Reforms in the agricultural sector need to be done in order to give farmers bettersupport especially in times of crop failure or bad market prices.• There is need for the continued fight against HIV/AIDS which continues to affect abig percentage of the youth and working age people in the country this reduces labourforce in the farms which end up being run by very old people that have far less energyto work.• Finally there is need for the continued corruption fight which is a major stumblingblock to the development of many projects.26
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 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: pastoralists and thus do not cultiv
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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