Mozambique

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

Biofuels substitution targets

Targets: only preliminary regulations to enable gradual introduction of ethanol and biodiesel at 5% - 10% substitution.

Date set: -

Note: The Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture is due to finish a strategy and regulatory framework during 2008 for approval by the Council of Ministers

National policy and trends in biofuels crop development

Biomass is currently the most important energy type in Mozambique, in particular traditional biomass (fuel wood and charcoal) in the household sector. Even with application of strict sustainability criteria, to protect areas of high conservation value and food production bioenergy capacity is estimated at 6.7 Exajoules (1) per year. Realisation of this capacity will require significant improvements in the agricultural sector. The country has 36 million cultivable hectares.

A technical assessment of economic, social and environmental sustainability of biofuels has been completed including a land zoning exercise. The land zoning process identifies 7 million hectares to be reserved for agricultural production.

The Mozambican Ministry of Agriculture is due to finish a strategy and regulatory framework during 2008 for approval by the Council of Ministers. The strategy will seek to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, contribute to the National Agenda of Poverty Alleviation and respond to the market for liquid fuels in the SADC region and outside the region, particularly the EU.

Potential biofuels crops include sugar cane and sweet sorghum for ethanol, soya, sunflower and Jatropha curcas for biodiesel. Cane yields are projected to be 50% above those obtained in Brazil.

Sources:

Biopact: http://biopact.com/2006/11/journal-energy-for-sustainable.html

Club of Mozambique: www.clubofmozambique.com

(1) 1 billion barrels of oil per year or 3 million barrels per day (1 barrel = 6.1 GJ).