Access to secure, sustainable and affordable energy is a prerequisite for sustainable development in developing countries.
Energy sufficiency and security is a key to development and prosperity since it provides essential inputs for socio-economic development at regional, national and sub-national levels; thereby providing vital services that improve the quality of life
The access to affordable energy is an essential component of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, including reduction in hunger and poverty, facilitating education and communication, enhancing health care services and responding to climate change. The inability of many African countries to provide good and adequate energy services has been a major constraint to their development and biofuel can play a vital role in this regard.
Renewable energy technologies (RETs) in general and biofuel specifically, offer developing countries some prospect of self-reliant energy supplies at national and local levels, with potential economic, ecological, social, and security benefits.
The energy resources in Africa are unevenly distributed. For example, Africa has 9.5% of the world’s proven oil reserves and contributes 12% to global oil production. However, this resource is concentrated in only four countries–Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Libya. A few countries in Africa are energy exporters; while the majority (forty two African countries) are net energy importers. They import petroleum products at a cost that places a heavy economic burden and reduces energy security and sovereignty. This implies a pivotal role for regional cooperation and improving regional trade in energy.
There is thus an urgent need for substantial investment in domestic energy infrastructure for social improvement and economic growth. In addition, there is an urgent need to facilitate trade in energy by strengthening regional and intercontinental infrastructure such as electricity transmission lines, oil and gas pipelines to improve distribution of energy both within Africa and other continent (e.g., within Europe). Expanding national and regional infrastructure would also increase the efficiency of how Africa uses its energy resources, thus enabling Africa to increase its reliability of supply and reduce its dependence on oil imports. This would improve energy security and increase access to energy services.
Biofuels development, particularly in the context of African development, is a controversial issue that has recently attracted considerable interest among policymakers, development practitioners, donors and other stakeholders. According to the Sustainable Development Commission [5], biofuels can lead to a substantial reduction in greenhouse gases emissions. These reductions require careful measures in crop selection management, subsequent processing and transport of biofuels to the point of use. However, the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions during biofuel production has to be balanced against any environmental and social detriment; such as changes in land-usage and practices and deforestation.
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There currently exists at least five different forms of biofuels; (a) bioethanol, made from starch rich crops such as sugarcane, wheat, cassava, sorghum and maize, (b) biodiesel, made from oil rich seeds including soya, oil palm, jatropha, (c) biogas produced from the biological breakdown of organic matter (animal or human wastes and other biomass), (d) biomethanol made from cellulosics and (e) biohydrogen made from biomass or by converting methane through steam reforming. It is pertinent to note that only (a)-(c) are operational in the continent, and the biofuels used today in Africa are bioethanol and biodiesel.
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