Liquid Biofuel Production in Eastern Africa: The Sustainability Challenge of Land and Feedstock Availability

Abstract

Liquid biofuel utilization is required to keep global warming below 2°C. In eastern African countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, feedstocks for liquid biofuel production do not conflict with food crops. This study aimed to determine the land and feedstock availability for biofuel production in selected eastern African countries. In Ethiopia, 23.3 million ha of land area is suitable for biodiesel crops and 333,500 ha for bioethanol crops. Sudan has more than 60 million ha of land suitable for biofuel crops. In Tanzania, 435,000 ha of land was allocated for biofuel crops. In Uganda, 60% of the arable land area is ideal for Jatropha and 50% for sugarcane. About 20% of the potential arable land in Kenya is suitable for Croton. In 2009 Kenana Sudan Sugar Company launched 65 million litres of ethanol production. Tanzania was producing biodiesel for electricity. Uganda produced ethanol from sweet sorghum. Ethiopia and Tanzania can produce 35.588 and 7.089 billion liters of lignocellulosic ethanol, respectively, higher than their import of petroleum. However, other Eastern African countries, such as Burundi and Djibouti, had no liquid biofuel production in 2023. In eastern Africa, land and feedstock are widely available to produce biofuel for clean bioenergy that should be used in appropriate land use plan. Keywords: biodiesel, bioethanol, feedstock, land, land use, productivity