Potentials of Ethanol Development in Africa

At a time of record oil prices and rising concern over global warming, ethanol presents a valuable opportunity to reduce dependence on volatile global oil markets, create local economic opportunities in agriculture and industry and build community resilience to climate shocks. In Africa, we are developing ethanol production to develop its huge potentials to create thousands of jobs, generate huge amounts of electricity for the national grid and sequester millions of tons of carbon that could be traded on global carbon markets. Despite the challenges, we see ethanol as a viable product to support Sierra Leone's recovery from the conflict and Ebola epidemic, and to help build sustainable development. As the largest biomass investment in Africa, our poster will present on the current information gaps and the potentials of bioenergy in Africa, based on our experience in Sierra Leone.