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Africa’s Biggest Oil Producer Goes Green
By Mr Ethanol | May 5, 2008
AFP:
In his office in Lagos, Alain Salleras, a Frenchman of about 50 for whom biofuels are something of a crusade, is working away at his pet project — producing ethanol from sweet sorghum in Nigeria.
Salleras, executive director of Global Biofuels Ltd, which has partnered with India’s Praj Industries and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for its project, is at pains to pre-empt any questions on the growing controversy over the alleged impact of biofuels on agriculture.
“Contrary to manioc, sorghum, of which Nigeria is the world’s leading producer, has no impact on food supply,” Salleras emphasised.
Indeed, if he is to be believed, sweet sorghum has only advantages over sugar cane, another crop often grown for biofuels.
He says sorghum requires one quarter of the water that sugar cane needs, it produces two or three harvests a year, you get far more ethanol per hectare under cultivation — nearly four times as much in fact — and there is no wastage.
“To make the ethanol we only take the stalks, which are rich in sugar. The grains go for food and the rest for animal fodder,” he says.
Even the fibrous residue from the crushed stalks, known as “bagasse,” is recycled. This biomass is boiled to produce steam to make electricity. Continue reading.
Topics: Green Business, News, Oil, Trends |
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