Tanzania
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Bioenergy > Regions > Africa > Tanzania
Information about biofuels and bioenergy in Tanzania.
Contents |
Events
- 11-13 May 2010, Maputo, Mozambique: Bioenergy Markets Africa. (Themes: Africa, specifically Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Zambia, Malawi & Madagascar, food vs. fuel, GHG reductions, jatropha, land tenure, life cycle analysis, policy, water)
- 17-18 September 2008, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania: Biofuels Markets East Africa (Themes: jatropha, East Africa, markets, investment)
Reports
- Economic viability of Jatropha curcas L. plantations in Northern Tanzania (PDF) by Nepomuk Wahl, Ramni Jamnadass, Henning Baur, Cristel Munster and Miyuki Iiyama of the World Agroforestry Centre. "This study examines the economic viability of jatropha seed production in three northern regions of Tanzania where a jatropha-based bioenergy value chain is about to emerge. Interviews with several farmers growing jatropha in the regions were conducted to create primary data on costs and benefits."
- Sustainable Production of Second-Generation Biofuels: Potential and Perspectives in Major Economies and Developing Countries (PDF) by the International Energy Agency, February 2010. "The paper focuses on opportunities and risks presented by second-generation biofuels technologies in eight case study countries: Brazil, Cameroon, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand."
- Biofuels, land access and rural livelihoods in Tanzania (PDF) by Emmanuel Sulle and Fred Nelson for IIED: This paper describes "patterns of biofuel development and crop cultivation in Tanzanian rural areas" and "various potential threats and opportunities from biofuels expansion." December 2009
News
- UK firm's failed biofuel dream wrecks lives of Tanzania villagers, 29 October 2011 by The Guardian: "A quarter of the village's land in Kisarawe district was acquired by a British biofuels company in 2008, with the promise of financial compensation, 700 jobs, water wells, improved schools, health clinics and roads."
- "But the company has gone bust, leaving villagers not just jobless but landless as well."
- "The tale of London-based Sun Biofuels's misadventure in Kisarawe links the broken hopes of the villagers to offshore tax havens and mysterious new owners, tracked down by the Observer, and ultimately to petrol pumps in the UK and across Europe. The final link results from the mandatory blending of biofuels into European petrol and diesel."
- "The aim is to reduce carbon emissions, but many say biofuels actually increase pollution."
- "'The situation in Kisarawe is heartbreaking, but the real tragedy is that it is far from unique. Communities across Africa and beyond are losing their land as a result of the massive biofuel targets set by our government,' said Josie Cohen at development group ActionAid, which works in Kisarawe."
- "The thirst for biofuels to meet the UK and EU's rising targets has led British companies to lead the charge into Africa. Half the 3.2m hectares of biofuel land identified is linked to 11 British companies, the biggest proportion of any country."[1]
- The Extraordinary Collapse of Jatropha as a Global Biofuel, 2 August 2011 by Environmental Science & Technology: "In a massive planting program of unprecedented scale millions of marginal farmers and landless people were encouraged to plant Jatropha across India through attractive schemes....Similar measures were undertaken across other developing countries involving millions of small farmers in the hope that it would not only provide renewable energy but also enhance their incomes....By 2008, Jatropha had already been planted over an estimated 900000 ha globally of which an overwhelming 85% was in Asia, 13% in Africa and the rest in Latin America, and by 2015 Jatropha is expected to be planted on 12.8 million ha worldwide."
- "But the results are anything but encouraging. In India the provisions of mandatory blending could not be enforced as seed production fell far short of the expectation and a recent study has reported discontinuance by 85% of the Jatropha farmers....In Tanzania the results are very unsatisfactory and a research study found the net present value of a five-year investment in Jatropha plantation was negative with a loss of US$ 65 per ha on lands with yields of 2 tons/ha of seeds...."
- "...A case study of Jatropha plantations raised in 1993–1994 in the Indian province of Andhra Pradesh had reported actual yields that were far below expectations and the species was found to be prone to termite attacks, water logging, vulnerable to drought in the planting year and delayed yields."
- "...As an immediate step an international body like the FAO may have to intervene to stop further extension of Jatropha in new areas without adequate research inputs. Greater investments in dissemination of scientific data will help in ensuring due diligence does not cause undue delays in decision making."[2]
- FAO's Tool Weighs Pros and Cons of Biofuels, 7 June 2011 by AllAfrica.com: "Calculating the costs and benefits of investing in biofuels may become easier for policymakers with a guide launched by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)."
- "The Bioenergy and Food Security (BEFS) Analytical Framework, released last month (17 May), was developed over the past three years and tested in Peru, Tanzania and Thailand."
- "Heiner Thofern, head of the BEFS project, said that the goal is to help policymakers make informed decisions on whether development of bioenergy is a viable option for their countries and, if so, identify policies that will maximise benefits for the economy and minimise risks to food security."
- Chris Buddenhagen, council coordinator of the Hawaii Invasive Species Council who developed a tool for assessing the risk of invasion by biofuel species, also welcomed the method, but warned that it seems hard to use and difficult to apply quickly to make the best policy decisions."
- "He also said the tool neglects some important issues, such as biodiversity and the invasiveness of biofuel species."[3]
- SE Asian palm oil firms go on African land safari, 29 April 2011 by Reuters: "Malaysia's Sime Darby and Singapore's Golden Agri Resources have joined a slew of global firms entering Africa by snapping up hundreds of thousands of hectares of land in Liberia, but it could still take years to turn the region into a net exporter and help ease high palm oil prices."
- "With an increasing number of firms rushing to Africa as part of a global grab for land in the face of soaring food prices, African governments such as Nigeria and Tanzania have also thrown open their doors to planters by offering tax breaks and big land concessions."
- "World Bank studies show Sub-Saharan Africa holds 201.5 million hectares suitable for crops, nearly half the world's total, or 16 times the combined oil palm acreage in Indonesia and Malaysia."
- "Investors are often lured by the fact that land in Africa can be rented or bought at a fraction of the price in Malaysia, where estates are priced at $6,000 to $7,000 per hectare, but there are other hidden costs."
- "Estates in Africa's top grower, Nigeria, yield about a tenth of Malaysia's 21.3 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches a hectare, FAO data shows, due to poor planting materials and the region's long dry season that stresses out water-loving oil palms."[4]
- Biofuel jatropha falls from wonder-crop pedestal, 21 January 2011 by Reuters: "Jatropha, a biofuel-producing plant once touted as a wonder-crop, is turning out to be much less dependable than first thought, both environmentalists and industry players say."
- "Some biofuel producers found themselves agreeing with many of the criticisms detailed in a report launched by campaign group Friends of the Earth this week -- 'Jatropha: money doesn't grow on trees.'"
- "Jatropha has been widely heralded as a wonder plant whose cultivation on non-arable land in Africa, Asia and Latin America would provide biodiesel and jobs in poor countries without using farmland needed to feed growing numbers of local people."
- "'Jatropha is not the miracle crop that many people think it is,' said Dominic Fava, business development manager of British biofuels firm D1 Oils, which processes jatropha grown in Asia and Africa."
- "'The idea that jatropha can be grown on marginal land is a red herring,' Harry Stourton, Business Development Director of UK-based Sun Biofuels, which cultivates jatropha in Mozambique and Tanzania, told Reuters."
- "'It does grow on marginal land, but if you use marginal land you'll get marginal yields,' he said."[5]
- Africa Can Grow Biofuel Crops Without Harming Food, Habitats, Study Shows, 23 July 2010 by Rudy Ruitenberg: "A study of biofuel production in Senegal, Mali, Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Mozambique found enough land is available to “significantly” raise cultivation of sugar cane, sorghum and jatropha for energy production without reducing food output, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, or FARA, said in a statement today."
- "In less developed African countries, yields may be tripled by “improved management practices,” potentially freeing up land for energy crops, the researchers said. Farmers in Nigeria produce about 1.8 metric tons of corn a hectare (2.47 acres), less than half the world average and under a fifth of U.S. yields, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture."[6]
- Read the full report here: Mapping Food and Bioenergy in Africa (PDF)
- "In less developed African countries, yields may be tripled by “improved management practices,” potentially freeing up land for energy crops, the researchers said. Farmers in Nigeria produce about 1.8 metric tons of corn a hectare (2.47 acres), less than half the world average and under a fifth of U.S. yields, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture."[6]
- FAO Releases Report on Bioenergy and Food Security in Tanzania, June 2010 by Climate-L.org: "The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) has released a report on “Bioenergy and Food Security: The BEFS Analysis for Tanzania,” which aims to support the development of bioenergy policies that are aligned with Tanzania’s poverty reduction and food security strategies."
- "The BEFS analytical framework is composed of five components: biomass potential; biofuel supply chain production costs; agriculture markets; economy wide impacts; and household level food security. The Tanzania case study examines: cassava, sugar cane, palm oil, jatropha, sweet sorghum and sunflower for bioenergy analyses; and maize, cassava and rice for food security analyses."[7]
- Download the full report: Bioenergy and Food Security: The BEFS Analysis for Tanzania
- "The BEFS analytical framework is composed of five components: biomass potential; biofuel supply chain production costs; agriculture markets; economy wide impacts; and household level food security. The Tanzania case study examines: cassava, sugar cane, palm oil, jatropha, sweet sorghum and sunflower for bioenergy analyses; and maize, cassava and rice for food security analyses."[7]
- Tanzania Suspends Biofuels Investments, 14 October 2009 by the Green Inc. blog of the New York Times: "Reacting to mounting pressure from farmers and environmental groups citing concerns over food shortages, the Tanzanian government has reportedly suspended all biofuel investments in the country and halted land allocations for biofuel development."[8]
- African Jatropha Boom Raises Concerns, 8 October 2009 by The New York Times Green Inc. blog: "Once the darling of biofuel enthusiasts, jatropha is raising concerns."
- "In a report leaked to The East African newspaper last week, Envirocare, an environmental and human rights organization, highlighted the impact of the jatropha trade in Tanzania — including concerns over the displacement of farmers, water consumption, and the substitution of food crops for biofuels."[9]
- Africa's burning charcoal problem, 25 September 2009 by BBC: "[A]ccording to the Tanzania Association of Oil Marketing Companies, 20,000 bags of charcoal enter the capital Dar es Salaam every 24 hours....But the impact of this unregulated...trade is chilling."
- "Aid agency Christian Aid estimates that 182 million people in Africa are at risk of dying as a consequence of climate change by the end of the century....One adaptation option for Africa is to keep her forests standing so that they provide essential environmental services such as carbon sinks".
- "But Africa has not been very good at this....According to the UN the continent is losing forest twice as fast as the rest of the world."
- "Wood and its by-product charcoal are, unless radical steps are taken, likely to remain the primary energy source for decades....Additionally, charcoal is a lucrative business..."[10]
- WWF's scoping report on biofuels in Tanzania October 2008.
- Tanzania cautioned on reckless biofuel projects, 21 July 2008 by The East African: "Environmentalists are warning of dire consequences should the haphazard production of biofuels in Tanzania continue."
- "Prof Raphael Mwalyosi, an environmentalist and sitting MP took to task the government over its rush to sanction the activity without first weighing the benefits and loss."
- "Addressing parliament, Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda said the government was not in a position to stop the ongoing production but projects that are yet to start will be deferred as it was still preparing a national policy on biofuels."
- "An Oxfam report released at the beginning of this month on biofuel production and its effects in Tanzania states that food supply to the nation could be in jeopardy with the environment endangered if the government continues to support haphazard production of biofuel."
- "Some of the crops that are being harnessed for biofuel production in the country include coconuts, Jatropha, sugarcane, wheat, cassava and sunflower."[11]
- Tanzanian coffee farmers convert waste water into biogas, 23 April 2007, from the BBC. A bio-gas converter is being tested in Tanzania. The machine that washes and prepares the green beans produces streams of highly acidic wastewater. This water can be fed into an anaerobic digester and converted into biogas. which is used instead of diesel to power the machines.
- Tanzania begins biofuel production November 5, 2006 from Biopact: "Sun Biofuel Tanzania Limited (SBF) has signed a memorandum of understanding with Dar es Salaam and Kisarawe district authorities" for production of biofuel from jatropha curcas (locally known as mkaranga), planted on 18,000 hectares of land.
Organizations
Governmental organizations
Nongovernmental organizations
- WWF's scoping report on biofuels in Tanzania. October 2008.
- Pamoja Inc is a Vermont (USA) and Tanzania-based non-profit organization. Pajoma's ProTREE project promotes the use of "non-edible plant oils as a liquid fuel alternative;" focusing on jatropha oil.
- Tanzania Traditional Energy Development and Environmental Organization (TaTEDO) Includes projects using biomass and PPO (Pure plant oil) fuels for heat and light in a sustainable manner.
Companies
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