Democratic Republic of Congo

Summary of national biofuels policy and strategy - updated 18th September 2008

Biofuels substitution targets

Targets: none set

National policy and trends in biofuels crop development

The DRC's new government has stablished an interministerial commission on biofuels to assess the natinal potential.

Land figures:

• 167 million hectares of non-forest land much suitable for sugarcane, oil palm, soybeans, sorghum, and cassava. Less than 5% of arable land currently under cultivation;
•  The FAO suggests that the DRC has 80-115 million hectares of available (‘unused’) land for bioenergy crops and food;
•  In October 2007 the Chinese company ZTE International signed a billion-dollar contract to develop more than 3 millions hectares of the DRC from oil palm plantations. These are expected to mature in 2013 with a yield of 4 tonnes/ha giving 12 million tonnes a year, most available for export as food or fuel crop.

 Sources:

Biopact: http://biopact.com/2007/07/dr-congo-chinese-company-to-invest-1.html