Jatropha oil: Alt fuel reality?

Listening to public figures in Europe and North America despair over the plight of Africa and its people, one would think the situation is hopeless.

Despite more than $625 billion in foreign aid and direct assistance since 1960, per capita gross domestic product in Africa has remained stagnant for decades. In the last quarter of the Twentieth Century, the continent’s share of global trade fell from an already negligible 3 per cent in 1976 to less than 1 per cent in 2000. According to the United Nations’ human development scale, which takes into account regional levels of health, education, and economic well-being, 34 of the 40 lowest-ranked countries are located in Africa.

But the reality is far from hopeless, and the people of Africa today stand at the threshold of a period of tremendous growth and opportunity. Thanks to the sharp rise in worldwide commodities prices over the last decade, the economies of sub-Saharan Africa, after decades of stagnation, are growing again.

Over recent years, regional economies have expanded by an average of 6 per cent annually, more than twice the rate of growth of the United States’ economy during the same period.

This new wave of economic growth will accelerate the present trend towards urbanization. While less than 40% of the population in Africa currently lives in cities or large towns, estimates by international agencies predict that this number is set to explode, as the urban population of Africa doubles from 294 million people today to an estimated 742 million by 2030. The implications for energy usage in the world are significant. City dwellers typically exhibit far greater demand for food and durable goods than their rural counterparts. By extension, energy consumption for electrical generation, industry, transportation, cooking, and heating is much higher in urban areas than in rural villages.

Increased energy consumption will have dramatic effects on the world’s economies and on its environment. But the world’s energy infrastructure is unprepared to handle the growth. The vast majority of all power plants and transmission facilities were constructed more than 40 years ago, and a lack of both routine maintenance and periodic investment means that old equipment performs badly, when it performs at all. Decades of warfare in states such as Iraq, Liberia and the Congo have left behind a legacy of damaged equipment and downed transmission lines. Since January 2008, even South Africa, whose state-owned power utility, Eskom, once exported electricity to neighboring states, has experienced rolling blackouts as domestic consumption of electricity has outstripped an aging and inadequate supply. Energy plays a critical role in socio-economic development, but without significant investments in world energy production and electrical generation, and changes to existing patterns of consumption, the world’s nascent growth may stagnate or even reverse.

As available oil supplies approach their peak and energy security becomes a major global issue, countries have much to lose by pursuing a path to development that is dependent on fossil fuels, but everything to gain by recasting their strategies around renewable energies—particularly biofuels. The experience of the Brazilian economy over the past three decades has clearly demonstrated the feasibility of this approach, and the Brazilian model is now being replicated in many countries, particularly India and China.

But biofuels have been the focus of a vocal wave of opposition in the last year, arguing that people must now compete with transportation and industry for fuel. A United Nations official, Mr. Jean Ziegler, has gone so far as to describe biofuels production as "a crime against humanity." Perhaps this statement holds true where biofuels production in Europe and North America is concerned, where absurdly generous government subsidies have encouraged farmers to withdraw tens of thousands of acres from food production in favor of making ethanol from corn (maize) and biodiesel from soya-beans and palm oil—costly and inefficient sources—severely impacting regional food production and driving up world prices for staples like corn, wheat, rice, soybeans and palm oil. Earlier this year, a petition calling for a "moratorium on new agrofuel developments in Africa" was signed by representatives of 30 nongovernmental organizations. But with what alternatives do these critics propose to meet Africans’ current and future energy needs? Solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower certainly have a role to play in any development program, but none is suitable for use everywhere in Africa, and even in combination, they cannot do as much as biofuels to alleviate the Africans’ growing dependence on expensive imports of refined petroleum products.

Looking past the current uproar over the impact of biofuels production on food prices, it is clear that a constructive balance can be achieved between energy sovereignty and food security. In Africa, as an example, there is an abundance of arable, non-forested land perfectly suitable for agriculture, but which sits unused due to a lack of infrastructure, lack of capital and lack of government cooperation. Though it supports one-seventh of the world’s population and contains one-quarter of its land, sub-Saharan Africa annually produces only $178 worth of goods per agricultural acre, compared with $457 per acre in Latin America and $1,077 in Asia.

On one occasion, while driving down a rural road to look at some available land, I noticed that on the left side, between the road and the river, there was a cornucopia of food being grown, everything from vegetables to rice. However, on the right side of the road, on a virtually identical stretch of land—same soil, same nutrients, same climate, but with no immediate access to the river—there was absolutely nothing for dozens of kilometers in any direction. But this is not surprising when one considers that, of all the millions of acres currently under cultivation in Africa, only 6 per cent is under irrigation and a vast amount of water is wasted by being drained into the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Agriculture is a combination of elements: land, water, fertilizer, labor, and capital.

While precise conditions in each country vary, generally, the common factor underlying so much idle land is a lack of capital, technology and government cooperation. Africans have the land, the water and the fertilizer, but they need capital and technology—not aid—to succeed. Installing the infrastructure—roads, irrigation systems, storage facilities, power plants, and other new technology—will require the long-term investment of billions of dollars, which neither the population nor the governments of Africa possess. Africa possesses the right climate, which is a necessity.

Central America has the right climate but not the available land for a significant biofuels industry. Investments in biofuels production will bring dollars to Africa, and will create the necessary infrastructure as well. Significantly, the infrastructure for cultivation of biofuels feedstock is the same as that required for production of staple crops. By training thousands of local residents in the techniques of modern, mass-produced agriculture, biofuels cultivation can lay the groundwork for the mass professionalization of the entire African agriculture industry, which will have positive long-term effects on food production in Africa and reduce the region’s dependence on costly imported food and foreign aid, while also addressing the lack of electricity and scarcity of expensive fuel.

Fuels derived from biomass production – principally biodiesel and bioethanol – are superior to their fossil fuel counterparts on many levels:

Even without the assistance of government subsidy, they are significantly cheaper than petroleum. Ethanol derived from maize is competitive with oil at $80 per barrel, while ethanol from sugar cane, which is far cheaper to produce, is competitive with oil at just $30 per barrel.

Biofuels burn more cleanly than fossil fuels or wood, significantly reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Ethanol from sugar cane, relative to conventional fossil fuels, can reduce carbon dioxide by as much as 90%, even when the entire production process is taken into account. Increased use of biofuels for routine activities such as cooking would also alleviate rural Africans’ dependence on wood fuel, consumption of which has been a major contributor to increased deforestation and desertification. Domestic production and use of biofuels can help Africans address climate change without sacrificing economic growth.

According to a report by Worldwatch, 38 of the world’s 47 poorest countries (81%) are net expensive oil importers, and the majority of these are located in Africa. Biofuels can reduce dependence on imports of refined products, many of which are currently sourced from politically unstable and unfriendly regimes.

Biofuels production requires only land, water, chemical fertilizer along with relatively basic and readily available technology. The inherent simplicity of biofuels production affords such programs a degree of scalability and flexibility that makes them ideally suited for rural development programs.

Cultivation of feedstock for biofuels production brings with it roads, electrification, and other infrastructure development, potable water, mosquito control, local employment opportunities, job training, health care, education facilities and increased income levels.

Biofuels programs can generate new export industries to meet growing worldwide demand. In the United States, the administration of President Bush has proposed legislation to boost domestic ethanol consumption from 19 billion liters (5 billion gallons) in 2007, to 133 billion liters (35 billion gallons) in 2017, while in Europe, the European Union has committed itself to using almost 6 per cent biofuels for all transportation by 2010. Neither region has the capacity to meet projected ethanol and biodiesel needs entirely from domestic sources, despite heavy subsidies for producers and tariffs on imported ethanol.

Biofuels cultivation and production creates a number of valuable byproducts including organic fertilizer, electricity, livestock and poultry feed, and marketable glycerin byproducts.

Recent key biofuels production efforts in Africa have focused on the cultivation of Jatropha curcas beans for production of biodiesel and sugar cane for ethanol distillation. Jatropha is a drought-resistant perennial that flourishes in marginal soils; however, with proper irrigation and the right seeds, it can yield up to four plentiful harvests per year. Jatropha development was pioneered in Africa by the Government of Mali, which has had a Jatropha cultivation program in place for more than two decades. In Mali, there are more than 10,000 kilometers of Jatropha hedges, which grow annually at a rate of 2,000 kilometers per year, representing a potential of more than 5 million liters of oil per year. On an equivalent basis, the energy required to produce Jatropha oil in mechanical presses amounts to less than 10 per cent of the resulting oil, making it a much cheaper alternative to conventional refined petroleum fuel oils. The ability to produce Jatropha locally using simple equipment can also solve the problem of periodic unavailability of fuel in rural areas, a result of lack of road access during the rainy season.

Little goes to waste. The press cake remaining after oil extraction has been found to be a very rich organic fertilizer, with a nutrient composition similar to that of chicken manure, which can be bagged and resold for maize, cassava or cotton cultivation. Alternatively, the nut cake can also be used to produce methane for use in gas-fired power stations.

Jatropha farming has been shown to have some additional benefits. Jatropha can easily be grown alongside other crops like potatoes or maize, on the boundaries between fields. At an average height of 2.5 to 3 meters, the hedges serve as "living fences," controlling unwanted animal access to cultivated fields, and significantly reducing the erosion of fertile soils by both wind and water. Interestingly, the Jatrohpa hedge’s flowers have been discovered to strongly attract honeybees, creating the potential for the emergence of local beekeeping and honey export businesses as well. Moreover, the process of converting Jatropha Oil into biodiesel generates 7 per cent glycerin as a byproduct. Glycerin is a versatile chemical used in the manufacture of cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and sells for approximately $1.50 per kilogram ($1,500 per ton). The glycerin byproduct can be supplied to local manufacturers of soaps, medicines or cosmetics, or sold in the open market to compete with glycerin produced from hydrocarbon fuel.

But Jatropha is commonly known as the "bellyache nut," and not without reason, for a new planting requires up to five years to reach full production, and creation of marketable biodiesel from Jatropha requires the use of 25% ethanol in its production.

Ethanol from sugar cane is an excellent stand-alone fuel, as well, and has applications ranging from small generators, to motor transport fuel, to cookstoves. Sugar cane cultivation programs can be pursued in many regions of Africa and Latin America which might not seem immediately suitable for cane crops, but which have subsurface aquifers or nearby rivers which can be utilized for irrigation as well as good local supplies of organic fertilizers—phosphates and potash—eliminating the need to import expensive, oil-based synthetic fertilizers.

In other cases, sweet sorghum can be planted instead of or in addition to sugar cane. Sweet sorghum can produce three crops per year instead of two crops per year for sugar cane. While sugar cane has a 99.5% sucrose content, sweet sorghum is 98% sucrose, but has other ingredients that expedite the fermentation process, thus overcoming the 1.5% sucrose differential.

While much of the attention given to ethanol fuel programs has focused on the United States’ reliance on domestic corn (maize) as a feedstock, sugar cane makes a better feedstock. Sucrose is the key ingredient in ethanol manufacturing, and sugar cane contains 99.5% sucrose – more than 30% greater than that of maize—and the sucrose in cane is easier and cheaper to extract. Taking into account all of the processes and inputs needed to grow and harvest a crop and convert it to marketable ethanol, the energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) for ethanol from sugar cane is an 8.0 factor versus only 1.34 for corn. In practical terms, this means that in one year, one hectare (2.47 acres) of corn produces only approximately 1,246 liters of ethanol, while the same hectare, if planted with sugar cane, will yield 4,000 liters of ethanol. But cane crops can be harvested twice each year, raising the potential yield to 8,000 liters of ethanol per hectare. Clearly, sugar cane is the better choice for ethanol production.

For ethanol production to be attractive to a global energy market, and in order to support the infrastructure surrounding it, it must be done on a massive scale. For example, development on an initial minimum of 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) will require a capital investment of approximately $200 million. Financing can come from investors plus the World Bank. While the World Bank requires that at least five different varieties of sugar cane be seeded as a protection against potential crop diseases, sugar cane production can be achieved in only 1½ to 2 years from seeding. Growing and harvesting two crops per year, 100,000 hectares of cultivated land should produce approximately 16,000 barrels to 25,000 barrels (one barrel is 42 gallons or about 160 liters) of marketable ethanol per day.

Much like Jatropha, little of the sugar cane crop goes to waste. After pressing the juices from the cane, the fibrous residue, known as "bagasse," can be pelletized and used as an alternative to diesel to fuel power plants for inexpensive local electricity generation; potentially yielding as much as 90 megawatts (MW) for every 100,000 hectares of cropland. Only about 30% of the electricity generated is needed to power the cane processing and ethanol distillation plants; the remaining 70% f total generated power can be employed for rural electrification programs, sent into the national power grid to supply urban areas, or exported for sale to neighboring states.

In pelletized form, the bagasse can be easily trucked or barged to power plants in other regions, as well. Pelletized bagasse can also be resold as an inexpensive animal feed, suitable for livestock or poultry, and thus further stimulate regional agricultural production and economic growth. Alternatively, bagasse can be used to make paper, cardboard, or wallboard. The waste molasses residue from sucrose extraction can be resold for use in the production of lactic acid, citric acid, butanol, glycerol, or yeast, while the vinasse—the residue from the ethanol fermentation process itself—can be mixed with lime and used for rich organic fertilizer.

New technologies under development in the United States and Brazil offer the hope of further improvements in biofuels efficiency, yields, and profitability. So-called "cellulosic ethanol" production techniques will enable much of the current waste product from cane crops—bagasse, cane leaves and stalks—to be used for ethanol distillation, increasing the yield per acre by almost 40%. Cellulosic ethanol production techniques are currently anticipated to be in commercial use in the Americas by 2011. More exciting still is a recent breakthrough in biofuels production announced by Amyris Biotechnologies of California.

Best known for creating a process that inexpensively produces large quantities of the anti-malarial drug Artemisinin, Amyris has developed a process by which sugar cane can be converted not into ethanol, but directly into hydrocarbon products which can be used to make gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuels. Amyris recently signed an agreement with one of the largest ethanol producers in Brazil for development of a pilot program, and forecasts that commercial production will begin in 2010.

The world needs Africa to be energy self-sufficient and Africa needs the world to become energy sufficient. That continent has waited its turn to explode with enterprise onto the world stage. Second generation biofuels can help Africa become energy self-sufficient and become a leader in the world of fuel.

Jack Grynberg write for the The Cutting Edge News and is a Denver-based oil and gas developer and a member of Set America Free.