Brazilian experts to help Kenya boost biofuel output

Kenya is a net importer of petroleum products, spending a significant amount of foreign exchange to meet the national energy requirement.

For instance, the country consumed about 3.8 million tonnes of imported petroleum fuel in 2009 which was brought in at a cost of Sh162 billion ($2 billion), gobbling up 47 per cent of the foreign exchange earnings from the country’s principal exports .

Mr Muhamad said the partnership with Brazil seeks economically viable alternatives for motor fuels and industrial process energy.

Power generation

Kenya’s bioethanol industry produces industrial alcohol, with sugar factories in Western Kenya currently producing 40 million litres of ethanol.

This translates to power generation level of 38MW against the government-assessed potential of 300MW.

The rush to start commercial production of biofuel comes weeks to September 1 — the date by which the legislation allowing the blending of 10 per cent ethanol with 90 per cent gasoline comes into effect.

The ministry of energy said it would promote commercial cultivation of croton, cotton, coconut, caster, jatropha and sunflower for production of biofuel.

“It is important for the government to recognise that even in Brazil which has several years of experience in handling energy crop production, food experts and environmentalists are still against the zoning of the country,” says Mr Paul Matiku, an executive director at nature Kenya.