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Need to consider bio-diesel as alternative petroleum
2006-07-22 09:17:53
By Joyce Mkinga
Not too many people know that diesel and petrol can be extracted from well-known plants seen and found almost everywhere in this country.
Such plants could be found in bushes, suited with all kinds of weather.
The extracted oil is called bio-diesel, which refers to a petro-diesel equivalent, processed, and derived from biological sources can be readily used in diesel engine vehicles.
Bio-diesel produces lower emissions than petrol and diesel, because it comes from crops that absorb carbon dioxide as they grow, bio-diesel overall contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is extremely low.
According to the Executive Secretary of Environment and Sustainable Technologies Association (NESSTA) Chrizant Kibogoyo, there is a number of oil bearing tree species, which thrive well in Tanzania and have shown tremendous prospects of producing biodiesel economically.
These are Palm Tree (Michikichi); Jatropha Curcas (Mbono Kaburi), Molinga Oleifera (Mlonge), Neem Tree (Mwarobaini) and Avocado (Parachichi) Palm tree is grown extensively in Kigoma region.
Kibogoyo says that palm tree seed has the highest oil content whereby it produces 4.5 tones of oil per hector, Coconut 2.4 tones while jetropha producing 1.8 tones.
In terms of production cost, jatropha is regarded as the cheapest, because is naturally grows shrub tree.
Of recent, livestock keeping communities and landowners as hedgerow to refrain livestocks from farms have grown it.
Farmers and landowners have planted Molinga and Neem Trees extensively. Avocado is of course, a famous fruit tree visibly containing oil.
Among the oil bearing plants and trees, it is advisable to elevate jatropha curcas from a natural growing shrub or a tree planted only as hedge row for scaring away animals to a commercial cash crop, because of its comparative advantage over other trees and plants of this category.
Jatropha is a sub tropical perennial plant, that thrives anywhere-even on cervices of rocks, gravely, sandy and saline soils.
It is drought, pest, and diseases resistant.I does not demand a lot from the soil.
It can be grown in areas of low rainfall (200 mm per year) though in higher rainfall or under irrigation, jatropha gives a much higher yield up to three harvests a year, and therefore it can be successfully grown in most parts of the country.
Kibogoyo says different parts of the jatropha tree are used for medicinal purpose in treating cerebral malaria, abdominal pains, wounds, insects, snakebites, and others.
Jatropha is also used in farms against pests, in cereals storages; it is also used against ticks, and crawling insects in livestocks and in a number of livestock diseases like foot and mouth rot.
Jatropha not only controls unwanted animal access to the fields, but they also reduce wind erosion and, if planted parallel to slopes to fix small earth or stone dams, they help control water erosion.
The plant’s roots grow close to the ground surface, anchoring the soil like miniature dikes or earthen bunds.
These dikes effectively slow surface runoff during intensive downpours, which are common, thus causing more water to penetrate into the soil and boosting harvests.
Kibogoyo says his organisation has embarked on promoting Jatropha Sustainable Integrated System (JSIS), which focuses not simply on the use of jatropha and other vegetable oil as fuel, but also on the use of this fuel as a crucial element to activate a circular system combining ecologic, economic, and sustainable development.
JSIS promotes four main aspects of development, which combine to help assure a sustainable way of life for making the ecosystems and bio diversity in general.
They are renewable energy, sustainable livelihood, gender equality and poverty reduction.
According to the available data in 2003, Tanzania oil companies imported about 652,000 tons of diesel for the country market at a cost of 1million US dollars, the amount that might have now increased.
Tanzania with about 1.8 million hectare of unused arable land and higher unemployment rate with over 0.5 million youths joining the labour force annually is capable of using the work force and arable land to become self-sustainable and a leading soppier of bio-diesel in Africa.
This will enable the country absorb the money used by oil companies in oil importation, hence proceeds into the coffers of her rural communities, farmers and entrepreneurs.
In so doing unemployment, poverty and over extraction of the natural resources base will be vanquished in line with the country development vision 2025 and realisation of MDG.
Kibogoyo says that at a medium output of 3 kilograms of seeds per Jatropha tree, a poor farmer is anticipated to get 7.5 tons of seeds per hectare, 1.8 tons of vegetable oil per hectare at 25 percent of seeds extracted and 1.5 tons of biodiesel per hectare at 0.8 per litre of oil refined.
By-products from the same hectare of Jatropha trees will produce 5.6 tons of seed cake 75 percent of seeds extracted, and 0.2 per litre of oil refined will be glycerine.
If the poor farmer opts to sell his/her Jatropha oil to a centralised collector at a 600/- per litre the farmer will realise a gross income of 1,125,000/-.
If he/she also sells the seed cake for 100/- per kilo it will amount to 562,500/-.
After deducting farm costs, harvesting and processing costs the will pocket a net income of roughly 1m/- from one hectare of fully developed Jatropha tree farm (3-5th year depending on rainfall and irrigation level) Interestingly, while a bag of charcoal sells at around 20 to 25,000/- due to the recent restrictions in deforestation tendencies.
Only 190,000 hectares of jatropha tree farm will satisfy the country demand of charcoal currently at 0.95 million tonnes therefore reduce urban household energy bill to affordable levels, reduce deforestation, restore employment opportunities loosed from charcoal making and trading industry; and reduce hazardous emission to the atmosphere.
Electricity in rural areas could easily be realized through bio-diesel, as farmers will have homegrown fuel of which will not need any further process.
The only thing a farmer will need is a generator, says Kibogoyo
The NESSTA has been disseminating information with a view of mobilising fellow Tanzanians from all occupations to eye that yawning opportunity to turn into an equivalent of a Saudi Sheikhs with oil wells.
”What we are doing apparently is awareness creation so that many people understand and use the opportunity,” he says.
Furthermore, at maximal load conditions the Jatropha oil gives even better results than petro-diesel because of its high oxygen content.
Based on tests conducted by NESSTA, the oil can also be successfully used as a lubricant in these engines.
Already the NESSTA are running demonstration farms in Kibamba and Mlandizi of jatropha, which will be ready for harvest in two years to come.
After the harvest, Kibogoyo says will demonstrate to the farmers and those interested on how to extract oil from the seed.
”We will put more emphasis on agro process in order to add value to it instead of exporting the seeds in other countries,” he says.
Seed cakes are good fertilizer whereby one tone of seed cake is equivalent to 200 tones of industrial fertilizer.
To realise the above dream actors in various fields notably agriculture, natural resources, environment, poverty reduction, labour, Planning and so on need to embrace the new opportunities unfolding in the world energy scenario with renew vigour in order to impart to the community relevant information, education, expertise, agricultural and forestry inputs, extension service, credit and other relevant services.
Financial institutions have a central role in realisation of the dream by charting out concrete strategies aimed at providing credits to producers groups in especially women and youths for them to acquire relevant technologies to add value to their products.
Kibogoyo says conducive pro-poor Policies and legislations is another area of special attention in the realisation of the dream to make Tanzania the largest supplier of bio-diesel in Africa.
Currently scores of self-proclaimed investors in the bio-fuels sector are stemming up with delayed promises of investing only to engage in jatropha seeds trading with unsuspecting poor farmers offering unrealistic prices, which will subject our poor farmers to perpetual poverty.
Favorable policies will ascertain that poor farmers are empowered to add value to their seeds before selling and maintaining the by-product of to boost viability of the undertaking.
The President Jakya Kikwete has already shown great desire to reverse environmental degradation in the country by instilling tough measures to halt deforestation and directed all functionaries to prepare ahead of time tree nurseries, seedlings and land for a stupendous reforestation campaign in the next rainy season.
It is of utmost importance for all functionaries to articulate a clear vision on which tree types to be plant and for which socio-economic benefits.
Additionally, mechanisms of the Kyoto Treaty to reduce industrial and commercial greenhouse gas emissions.
The planting of biofuel crops like jatropha create carbon sinks that can earn developing countries like Tanzania, entrepreneurs and individual farmer’s cash through their sale of emissions credits to polluting industries in developed countries.
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