The frustrated bio fuel industry

As a landlocked country Zambia has to import 100% of its fuel stocks – a dangerous dependency for the country. Will the amendment of the energy policy influence growth in the bio fuel industry in the country?

On his farm in Lusaka Tyson Chisambo bends down to inspect his small Jatropha stalks spread around his knees like a sea of green. He has a nursery with 2 million seedlings on a 2 acre land and also a 10 acre Jatropha plantation in Chilanga.

Jatropha is an energy crop, when crushed it produces fuel, which can be processed into bio ethanol-petrol and bio diesel. Chisambo says he has a processing plant that can crush Jatropha seeds but currently the plant is not working as there is no one trading in bio fuels.

Bio fuel mix

Chairman for the Society Forum for Bio Fuel in Zambia Marriot Nyangu says the government should prepare a value chain, which includes production and marketing instead of only advocating for the growing of Jatropha plants.

The government of Zambia in 2007 drafted a law that forces oil companies to mix bio fuel with the regular petrol for sale at filling stations. This is called a blending ratio. Meanwhile the amendment of this law is still waiting for adoption by the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZBS) in Lusaka.

This is a problem many Jatropha farmers are facing in Zambia. When the government amended the energy policy to support the bio industry as a sector in 2007, farmers like Chisambo jumped to the opportunity.

Charles Mulenga, Assistant Director at the Department of Energy says government is concerned about the supply of Jatropha in the country: "The study of the extent of cultivation of Jatropha in the country found out that only 10,000 hectares of land is plantation. That is not enough to enable us to come up with a mandatory statement of blending".

The government is currently in talks with the Bio Fuel Association of Zambia and stakeholders about the bio fuel industry. "The growing of Jatropha if encouraged within the outlining districts in the country, the oil produced will not only cater for their oil needs but also build processing plants that will brings jobs" claims Chisambo.

The energy minister Kenneth Konga however disclosed that government is floating shares of the only petroleum refinery Indeni on the stock exchange in-order to boost the energy sector.

Mulima Situmbeko

Links
Jatropha curcas in Zambia
China Asks Zambia To Plant 2 Million Hectares of Jatropha
Forests and the Biodiversity Convention