Biofuels and Fiji’s roadmap to energy self-sufficiency

Abstract

The Pacific Island countries face a number of energy challenges, mainly arising from the lack of indigenous fossil fuel sources and geographical remoteness; biofuels provide a possible solution. This article considers the current status of the biofuels industry in Fiji and stresses that the main motivation for biofuels development in the Pacific must remain the substitution of expensive fossil fuel imports and not the reduction of carbon emissions. It identifies coconut oil and ethanol as the two most important biofuels that can be produced in Fiji today and outlines some of the socioeconomic factors that influence the production of these biofuels. The article considers Fiji’s prospects of replacing its fossil fuel imports with biofuel, and concludes that in the case of transportation, Fiji is well-placed to replace all its diesel engine needs with the biofuel blend B5 and its petrol engine needs with the ethanol blend E10. Indeed, with a little more attention to feedstock production, Fiji could become a net exporter of these commodities in the future.

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The author has no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.