Biofuels: Is the controversy justified?
The word controversial is probably one of the most closely associated with the biofuels industry in recent years, blamed as it has been for both soaring food prices and dwindling crops.
From an auspicious start, with many believing it provided the answer to a move away from fossil fuels, biofuels technology has since fallen from its previously vaunted pedestal.
While the West continues to research the industry, biofuels seems to provoke most controversy in the developing world, with fierce criticism of companies using food crops for fuels, in countries where many go hungry.
The use of food crops such as maize or canola has also resulted in the suggestion that biofuels are somewhat responsible for a rise in food prices, a controversial topic in the west, but once again even more so in the developing world.
Just three years ago Ethanol Africa was poised to build eight ethanol plants in maize areas of the Free State, Mpumalanga and the North West; however price increases in maize and reports of food shortages in Mexico due to biofuels investments has led to a freezing of the idea.
The South African government announced that bio-ethanol production from maize will only be considered once certainty on the ability of the underutilised land to produce has been ascertained and measures have been put in place to guard against extreme food inflation.
Despite the controversy, both the private sector and government are still hoping that biofuels could provide one of the methods in which we will eventually be able to wean ourselves off fossil fuels and provide a sustainable resource going forward.
In its early stages, Africa has proven to be a willing partner in biofuels technologies, with South Africa in particular highlighting the need for additional research into the industry.
Back in 2001, former President Thabo Mbeki announced the government was prioritising the biotechnology industry, as it adopted a National Biotechnology Strategy.
Since then the various provinces have established Biotechnology Regional Innovation Centres (BRICs), to conduct further research into the industry and biofuels projects have now started cropping up around the country.
Eastern Cape offers a haven for biofuels
The Eastern Cape is playing host to a number of biofuels projects, one of which is biotechnology company PhytoEnergy’s planned R700m biodiesel refinery development to produce biofuel from canola.
The company is aiming to avoid the usual criticism of biofuels, as canola is a winter crop that will be cultivated in rotation with maize or wheat. The group also advocates the technology as the rotation of the crops is expected to enhance the food crop yields by up to 25%.
While the project may help rather than hinder food crops in South Africa, the fuel itself is destined for a different home. PhytoEnergy has agreed to export 90% of the biodiesel to Europe, where "cold proof" fuel (which can be used in winter in Europe) is required.
Another Eastern Cape project is taking place at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth, with InnoVenton, the university’s institute of chemical technology, announcing a pilot project to use marine algae to convert carbon dioxide into biofuels.
InnoVenton is using marine algae grown in sea water – thereby avoiding the fresh water versus fuel debate. If the project proves successful the company wants to secure two industrial partners to install similar units and feed those from carbon dioxide generated from their operation.
“We’re hoping that by the end of 2010 we’ll have something we can offer industry as a means of sequestering carbon dioxide as a means of using algae in South Africa,” says Geoffrey Ritson, Deputy Director of technology support at InnoVenton.
Ritson notes that one of the biggest challenges it Innoventon faces is the bad reputation that algae got previously from companies making claims they were unable to back up, adding that InnoVenton’s results are based on scientific data.
Elsewhere, Rainbow Nation Renewable Fuels, a Port Elizabeth-based developer looking to convert soybean into biodiesel, is hoping to set up a $250-million biodiesel plant in South Africa, the construction of which is expected to take 18 months.
KwaZulu-Natal boasts biofuels contender
It’s not just the Eastern Cape that is facilitating biofuel investments in the country, however. FIS Biofuels, a firm that is planning to build a $26 million waste vegetable oil biodiesel plant, is hoping to locate its facility in Richards Bay.
Louis Nyiri, managing director of FIS Biofuels, says the company already has most of the groundwork covered and is now looking for an equity investment for a R250-million plant in South Africa. The group is contributing R50-million in equity, which is the 100,000 m² of land in Richards Bay.
FIS Biofuels estimates that there are between 10 and 20-million litres of waste vegetable oil a month in the market, which it says currently ends up in pet food, cow fodder and chicken feed, which ultimately means it ends up in the chickens therefore back on the supermarket shelves.
It believes that its technology will not only create additional fuel capacity in South Africa, but also removes a waste product from the food chain, thereby stopping it finding its way back onto supermarket shelves.
The company wants to capture this waste product to convert it into biofuels. Nyiri says that he sees the KZN Growth Fundas a possible partner as the plant has a great regional capacity, adding that it is in the interests of the region as it also creates employment opportunities.
Steering around the controversy
Many of the South African biofuels technology firms have taken on board previous criticism of the industry, and are finding ways to navigate the controversies – such as rotating crops, or converting waste products.
FIS Biofuels’ Louis Nyiri, refutes the suggestion that the existence of biofuels has led to a shortage in food crops, however, placing the blame instead at the feet of certain food producers who he says wants to keep prices artificially higher.
“Historically there has been hunger since mankind has been in existence. It is absolutely a fact that South African food producers and grain producers deliberately under-produce. They never utilise their land to full production,” says Nyiri.
InnoVenton’s Geoffrey Ritson notes, however, that with the controversy of using food crops still an issue, a number of companies are avoiding utilising food as a basis for their fuel technologies, in an effort to steer around the matter.
“The government is going to look very, very carefully at the impact of biofuels development on the food industry and the price of foods, in particular cereal crops,” says Ritson.
FIS Biofuels Louis Nyiri says the oil refinery industry is slowing down the pace of development in the biofuels industry, suggesting that the lending of biodiesel and ethanol is going to be a huge headache for the refineries.
“The blending is going to be a major problem for the refineries - not to us but to them - because they now need to create a separate infrastructure for that. They cannot push it all through the current pipelines,” says Nyiri.
InnoVenton’s Ritson disagrees, saying the biggest headache for the oil industry will be ensuring that the introduction of biofuels into the oil supply chain is a controlled process.
“In the old days when we first started putting alcohol into fuel, the oil companies ended up with mud on their faces, as people ended up with water in their tanks, cars were packing up, and paint was stripping off cars because the product hadn’t been stabilized properly.”
“So they’ve got that history and they’re saying if you’re going to put stuff in my diesel I want to make sure there’s some control. I think it’s more to do with the integrity of the system,” he adds.
Guaranteeing the future of biofuels
Alongside its marine algae project, InnoVenton also recently launched, with the support of the department of science and technology, a proposal for a new biofuels laboratory at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
The laboratory is expected to launch in September and will provide a place for biofuels producers to have their products tested, to ensure that it is compliant with the South African Bureau of Standards and can be certified for export.
“At the end of the day its really important that the fuel does work in the user environment,” says Ritson, adding that the auto manufacturers and the oil companies “need to know that there’s some legislation controlling the quality.”
While controversy remains a thorn in the side of the biofuels industry, progress is being made and criticism of the use of food crops is beginning to result in projects that either do not affect food production or in some cases can actually improve the yields.
If the runaway oil price of 2008 has taught us anything, it’s that finite resources are volatile, and it would be foolhardy to expect the oil price to remain at current levels. That being the case, biofuels provides at least one of the answers to the world’s future power crisis.
As investment continues to pour into renewable energies such as solar and wind, and with fierce criticism of the industry now being addressed by the major players, the same should soon be true for biofuels as well.
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