Cleaner fuels and bioenergy in Mozambique
Cleaner fuels and bioenergy were the focus of a recent visit to Maputo, Mozambique by Alliance technology and fuels specialists. The team participated in the Global Bioenergy Partnership Meeting – which drew government officials, entrepreneurs, and fuel producers – to share the experience of the cookstoves sector on fuel production, distribution and use, and effective standards and testing for cookstove technologies.
Fuels are a critical component of clean cooking solutions, and fuel production and distribution provide livelihood opportunities. Such gatherings provide the Alliance with an opportunity to share and gain knowledge, and identify ways and means to collaborate for wider adoption of cleaner fuels.
Global Bioenergy Partnership Meeting (GBEP)
The Alliance collaborates with GBEP on sustainable production and use of wood energy to improve access to household energy in developing countries. This includes a recent joint Request for Applications (RFA), released by the Alliance, to develop an online guide that will help evaluate, prioritize and improve feedstock choices, production methods, and new livelihoods and distribution logistics. The guide will also support investments, entrepreneur decisions, and enabling policy frameworks for a stronger sector in the longer-term.
There were positive discussions between Alliance staff and a number of meeting attendees, including: organizations developing certification systems and global standards for bioenergy fuels; large-scale ethanol producers trying to expand their operations and apply lessons learned in Africa; small-scale African fuel producers aiming to scale their manufacturing and production processes; as well as government representatives, business leaders and entrepreneurs wanting to promote sustainable investment, policies, and production of biofuels.
In other meetings, Mozambique government officials expressed their interest in the sector and noted their work to broaden government engagement in cookstoves issues across ministries. The team also spent time with African entrepreneurs from Nigeria, Ethiopia and Uganda, including a woman’s initiative in Uganda to encourage community adoption and use of charcoal briquettes from agricultural wastes as fuel alternatives to charcoal and firewood. While in Maputo, the staff discussed the progress of an Alliance-funded project with the grantee, a social enterprise in Lagos, Nigeria that produces ethanol gel to sell with their Kike cookstove model.
On-site with local businesses and consumers
They also had the opportunity to visit a small shop in Maputo that sells ethanol produced from cassava. They talked with consumers who use ethanol and charcoal fuels, paired with more efficient cookstove models, for cleaner-burning cooking. CleanStar, the enterprise behind the approach, has been funded by the Alliance to identify and share lessons learned from the venture, and scaling of production in other areas and countries.