A Kenyan green energy firm has announced plans to generate ethanol-based electricity.
Gravitas Ltd managing director Lorna Omuondo said the company will introduce ethanol-powered cells into the market by mid year.
Gravitas has already launched an ethanol cooking stove and is to open an ethanol bottling plant in Kisumu later this month.
This is expected to replace use of the expensive and environmentally polluting kerosene.
“It’s a new form of energy generation that is cheaper and environmentally friendly,” she told Xinhua in an interview.
Fuel cell technology, which is relatively new in Africa, can obtain 40 to 50 per cent efficiency in conversion of fuel into useable power.
Research estimates that internal combustion engines like generators achieve a mere 18 per cent conversion efficiency.
Gravitas plans to use hydrated ethanol — alcohol that still retains some water content —to generate the fuel.
Every day, Kenya’s two main ethanol manufacturing plants Spectre International and Agro-Chemical and Food Corporation produce an estimated 20,000 tonnes of such ethanol.
Lack of demand
This by-product of sugar production is stored in tanks and eventually disposed off into Lake Victoria because of lack of demand.
“This type of ethanol can be used in a fuel cell system with no loss in efficiency,” said Ms Omuondo.
He said the plan was to source ethanol locally, starting with the ongoing partnership with the Kisumu-based Spectre International.
Gravitas also plans to source the raw material from Mumias Sugar Company once it starts production later in the year.
“In situations of shortage, we will import it from countries like Malawi where ethanol is cheap,” said Ms Omuondo.
The plan is to start with fuel provision on a low scale, for several households, then construct larger plants that can feed the electricity generated to the national grid.
Kenya does not have feed-in-tariffs for fuel cell energy, a Ministry for Energy official who sought anonymity because she is not authorised to speak on behalf of the ministry, said.
She said there were plans to develop additional feed-in tariffs for renewable energy sources not yet covered.
Only wind, biomass, and small hydro power sources are covered in the current feed-in-tariff model developed by the government in 2008.
Ms Omuondo urged the government to remove exercise duty charged on ethanol to encourage growth of the nascent sector.
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