Liquid Biofuels Strategies and Policies in selected African ... - Pisces

The issues emerging from large-scale biofuels production in Tanzania include:• Technology development versus land tenure.• Lack of real agro-climatic knowledge or assessment of truly commercial rain fedfeedstock’s.• Local processing versus export of raw materials.• Lack of robust social and environmental safeguards.• Inequitable business models.Lack of policies and regulations have made investment in the biofuels sector difficultin Tanzania as the prospective return on investment remains largely unclear. Legislativeframeworks have been previously incomplete, overlapping and/or lacking completecoherence to ensure all stakeholders are involved. Activities towards implementationof biofuels policies are currently mainly driven by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals(MoE), with a multi-stakeholder group now involving other ministries. COMPETE havecreated layered crop land suitability maps for certain areas of Tanzania and reportedlygood progress is being made (Watson, 2010).While quite a few jatropha projects have been explored, started and not endured,Sunbiofuels have 2,000 hectares of their 8,000 hectare accession planted out inMorogoro in degraded forest lands. EcoEnergia, the result of a management buy-outof Sekab, aim to produce 100m litres of ethanol from 400,000 hectares of sugarcaneand sweet sorghum split between first Bagamoyo, then Rifiji in Tanzania and CaboDelgado, Mozambique. Indian-owned Kilimanjaro Biochem is constructing an ethanolplant close to Kilimanjaro with 200-800 greenfield hectares of sugarcane. Recently theTanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation announced the intention of importingBrazilian ethanol to cut fuel costs.4.2.12 UgandaUganda’s current energy policy is broadly supportive of the aim of increasing biofuels andis geared at reducing dependence on imported petroleum products. As specific regulatoryframeworks are still being developed there is not yet any decision on the different scaleand impact of meeting local energy requirements and/or production for export (Byakolaand Yiga, 2007). During implementation, government support is coming in the formof production subsidies, tax exemptions and modified tax incentives, fuel blendingmandates, tariffs, price regulations, and national biofuels targets. International NGOshave set up large scale outgrowers schemes in three areas using jatropha and candlenutas feedstocks. Again there is muted Chinese investment support of larger scale sweetsorghum development. Palm oil has been developed in areas around the lake and onecase of controversial sugarcane expansion was illustrated in a previous chapter.4.2.13 ZambiaClimatically Zambia is one of the more favourable zones for biofuels, especiallyjatropha, which is not yet commercial in drier or colder climates. Zambia’s 1994National Energy Policy did not include biofuels issues, but it was revised in 2004 toaccommodate biofuels. The Zambian Government had set up an inter-ministerialtaskforce to work on targets, incentives and capacity building programs for biofuelsdevelopment (WWF 2008). In order to create a strong private sector leadership,the Biofuels Association of Zambia was registered in 2006 to promoted biofuelsinvestment, which has improved Zambia’s energy policy.Examples of stakeholder participation in mapping out the liquid biofuels roadmap inZambia are:• In August 2006 the Government convened a national stockholder’s consultativeworkshop for liquid biofuels development.• In April 2007 the draft Biofuels Development Framework was formulated jointly byGovernment and the Biofuels Association of Zambia and a statutory instrument tolegalise biofuels was introduced.• In December 2007 the Government convened a stakeholder workshop to map out astrategy to roll out the National Energy Policy, approved in November 2007 (Sinkala2008).• In May 2008, the Energy Regulation Commission set biofuels standards but thegovernment is yet to make biofuels a priority area under the national developmentplans as well as to issue incentives.By the end of 2008, some large international biofuels commercial activities werereported in Zambia (WWF 2008) despite the lack of clarity on the export focus ornational energy provision. Proponents of a National Biofuels plan claim that fewerhectares are needed to create national self-sufficiency (250,000 Ha for both Bioethanoland biodiesel based on optimistic yields) than are currently lost to deforestation fromwood biomass usage every year (estimated at 450,000ha of forest (Sinkala 2008). Theevidence that current biofuels production is targeted at the export market is supportedby the fact that Zambia does not have its own biofuels refining facilities.Perhaps in response to the lack of national integration of biofuels, well organised civilsociety biofuels forums have emerged, comprising Zambian NGO’s and interestedstakeholders, to ‘research, monitor facilitation, dissemination of information andcollaboration with the Government, BAZ and the biofuels industry, to create a pro-poorindustry that contributes to rural development and equitable economic growth in therural parts of the country, with a particular emphasis on small scale rural producers.’4.2.14 ZimbabweEthanol blending with petrol started in Zimbabwe in 1980 and ceased in 1992 whenunblended fuel became cheaper due to a severe drought. Last year the Triangle ethanolplant was refurbished and production resumed. Sugarcane production expansion isplanned at the Agricultural and Rural Development Authority estates in Chisumbanje.In Zimbabwe, public-private partnerships and market coordination (for blending,marketing and transportation) have been critical for the initial establishment of abiofuels programme. The structural adjustment and tax incentives in Zimbabwe wereencouraging and private investors such as Triangle found international buyers forportable alcohol. The key replicable lessons for other African countries, especiallythose at the early stage of biofuels development are:• Public-private partnerships with oil companies, government and biofuelentrepreneurs can be effective in creating economies of scale and the value chain.• Feedstock availability (including long term climatic and market conditions) andconsistency in government policies and support helps sustain the industry.42 Liquid Biofuels Strategies and Policies in selected African Countries Liquid Biofuels Strategies and Policies in selected African Countries 43