Nuts to boost Tanzania biofuels
A biodiesel project in Tanzania is looking at manufacturing biofuel using the oil from the nuts of the Croton tree.
The Africa Biofuel and Emission Reduction project will take place in Tanzania's northwestern Kagera region where the Croton tree grows in abundance.
The initiative is to replace up to 10% of Tanzania's oil requirements by 2018 through the production and sale of cheaper vegetable oil as biodiesel. It will also provide a new cash crop to smallholder farmers.
‘We've been analysing the tree and the nuts for the past seven years and the seeds contain 27% oil by weigh,’ Africa Biofuel and Emission Reduction project manager Christine Adamow says.
‘Our analysis tells us that this oil, as a source of straight vegetable oil, provides a clean source of biofuel for diesel generators and diesel motors.’
Fossil-based diesel in western Tanzania costs almost US$11 (€8.40) a gallon. The project aims to retail the biofuel at about 60% of prices at the pump.
‘We've seen a worldwide increase in the maize price, for example, as a result of shortages because farmers in places like the US have started to grow the crop specifically for the purposes of making ethanol. We don't want any repeats of this,’ Adamow adds.
The area targeted as the core plantation is an underused land area of approximately 20,000 hectares that had been used as a coffee plantation.
The Africa Biofuel and Emission Reduction project will take place in Tanzania's northwestern Kagera region where the Croton tree grows in abundance.
The initiative is to replace up to 10% of Tanzania's oil requirements by 2018 through the production and sale of cheaper vegetable oil as biodiesel. It will also provide a new cash crop to smallholder farmers.
‘We've been analysing the tree and the nuts for the past seven years and the seeds contain 27% oil by weigh,’ Africa Biofuel and Emission Reduction project manager Christine Adamow says.
‘Our analysis tells us that this oil, as a source of straight vegetable oil, provides a clean source of biofuel for diesel generators and diesel motors.’
Fossil-based diesel in western Tanzania costs almost US$11 (€8.40) a gallon. The project aims to retail the biofuel at about 60% of prices at the pump.
‘We've seen a worldwide increase in the maize price, for example, as a result of shortages because farmers in places like the US have started to grow the crop specifically for the purposes of making ethanol. We don't want any repeats of this,’ Adamow adds.
The area targeted as the core plantation is an underused land area of approximately 20,000 hectares that had been used as a coffee plantation.
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