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ENERGY-MALAWI: Technology to Save Forests

Pilirani Semu-Banda

BLANTYRE, May 31 2007 (IPS) - Malawi’s utilisation of energy resources is heavily dominated by firewood, which provides 93 percent of all energy needs. Current annual household consumption of firewood and charcoal are at 7.5 million tons, exceeding sustainable supply by 3.7 million tons.

Poverty and population growth in the country are placing escalating pressures on Malawi’s indigenous forests which, the ministry of environment says, translates into an annual destruction of approximately 50,000 to 70,000 hectares of forest.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is hopeful that a new ethanol-based innovation will go some way to addressing Malawi’s energy problem. The UNDP has included a local company’s development of an ethanol-based stove in its Growing Sustainable Business Programme (GSB). It will also boost the local renewable fuel industry.

The GSB initiative, which grew out of the 2002 United Nations Global Compact policy dialogue on business and sustainable development, is targeted at engaging the private sector in poverty reduction.

The idea is to encourage the private sector to expand employment and livelihood opportunities through the development of new products and services that address the needs of the poor.

GSB broker in Malawi, Jan Willem van den Broek, is facilitating linkages between large businesses, potential international investors and local partners to promote the new ethanol stove innovation called ‘‘SuperBlu”.

‘‘It is hoped that with 100,000 households in Malawi using the ethanol stoves, carbon emissions can be reduced by 720,000 tons and 21,300 hectares of trees can be saved annually. This will lead to reduced deforestation and less exposure to carbon monoxide, soot and other household pollutants,” says van den Broek.

The use of firewood and charcoal has been known to have negative repercussions such as the inhalation of carbon monoxide from the burning of these fuels, which causes a number of health problems.

As trees become increasingly scarce, individuals have little choice but to travel long distances and devote more time to fetching firewood which removes them from productive economic activities and household chores.

Van den Broek is currently helping Bluwave Limited, the company that is producing the stove, to attract the investment needed for the project which, including the first year working capital, is calculated at 1.265 million US dollars.

Over the last four years, the company tested and prototyped the stove in collaboration with the University of Vienna in Austria, Leeds University in the United Kingdom and Chancellor College at the University of Malawi.

Chairperson of Bluwave Limited, Gaffar Jakhura, says the concept of an ethanol-based burner germinated from the search for an affordable and safe substitute for firewood and charcoal.

‘‘For example, in Malawi, forest reserves have almost halved in size. The rate of depletion is increasing and its effects on climate and soil conservation are alarming,” says Jakhura.

Ethanol is locally available in large quantities since it is a by-product in the sugar manufacturing industry. Sugar is Malawi’s second biggest export produce after tobacco and the country has two ethanol-producing plants at its two major sugar factories in Nkhotakota and Chikwawa.

According to Jakhura, the stove has been designed to be reliable, safe and easy to manufacture. The fuel consumption is up to six times more efficient than a paraffin stove and it does not emit any unpleasant smells.

It has no consumable parts, such as wicks. In cold conditions, it converts into a heater by the simple means of a ceramic cylinder which fits on top of the stove. The cylinder heats up and retains and radiates the heat to warm the surrounds, and on top of the cylinder a space is provided for a kettle.

The company’s facilities can manufacture 100,000 stoves per year and includes an ethanol fuel plant with a production capacity of 12 million tons of ethanol per year, plus a bottle manufacturing and recycling plant which can manufacture 24 million half-litre bottles per annum.

GSB is a global initiative currently operating in nine African countries including Tanzania, Zambia and Mozambique, as well as nine other countries in Central America, Asia and Eastern Europe.

The initiative has facilitated a large number of investments, from rural telecommunications to the provision of finance for small and medium enterprises. The global GSB portfolio includes investments ranging from 200,000 to 23 million US dollars.