Ethanol and gelfuel: clean renewable cooking fuels for poverty alleviation in Africa

Abstract

This paper presents a discussion on the potential of ethanol and gelfuel as clean renewable and low-cost household cooking fuels for African countries. The discussion is based on the experience of the “Millennium Gelfuel Initiative (MGI)”, a public-private sector partnership shepherded by the RPTES Program of the World Bank in Africa. The paper starts by providing a brief background of the household energy sector in Africa. It then summarizes the objectives, scope and outcomes of the MGI. The possibility to promote rural, agricultural and agro-industrial development and poverty alleviation through the establishment of ethanol production programs in African countries is presented next, and a conceptual developmental model is outlined. The paper then touches on three key implementation concerns: context-specific nature of bioenergy production systems; “fuel vs. food dilemma”; and scale-up challenge. The paper concludes with a summary of a possible implementation framework, including the roles of the private sector, governments and the international development community.