Mozambique has the agricultural conditions necessary to produce large quantities of biofuel for domestic consumption, reducing imports considerably, according to preliminary data from a study carried out by Green Light, a consulting firm focused on energy and environment in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
The study was recommended by the Ministry of Economy and Finance, in the context of the government’s Package of Economic Acceleration Measures (EAP).
The EAP recommends the blending of locally produced biofuels (biodiesel and bioethanol) into liquid fuels imported for domestic consumption.
According to a representative of Green Light, Víctor Matavel, speaking during the presentation of the study, on Thursday, in Maputo, there are several crops produced in the country that could serve as raw materials for biofuel production.
He pointed to cassava, cashew, maize, sweet potato, sugar cane and millet, for the production of bioethanol, and cotton, coconut, palm and castor oil for the production of biodiesel.
“In terms of biofuel production costs, the study found that sugar cane would require between 1.42 and 1.04 USD per litre, while cassava would cost between 1.76 and 1.21 dollars per litre.
In order to effectively implement the obligation to blend biofuels into liquid fuels, the country must have a biofuel production strategy, transport infrastructure, biofuel logistics at distribution terminals, and adaptation of fuel pumps and vehicles”, he said, cited by the independent newsheet “Carta de Moçambique.”
The major stumbling block is the price of biofuel, which is higher than that of imported liquid fuels, which could render the study useless.
There have been a string of studies of the potential for biofuel production in Mozambique, none of which have proved viable.
The final study, which is still being carried out with no date to be presented to the public yet, is funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group.
Carta de Moçambique
