Smallholder Bioethanol Production from Cassava Feedstock Under Rural Nigerian Settings

Abstract

There has been increasing interest in fuel ethanol production due to environmental, economic, and social benefits. In Nigeria, all 20 new ethanol projects that emerged following the implementation of the Nigerian biofuel policy are large-scale integrated farms and refineries except the “cassakero” project, which is small-scale. The benefits of ethanol are limited because of the dominance of the sector by large-scale entrepreneurs. The national cassekero project is comprised of 10,000 units of mini ethanol refineries for the production of 8 million liters of ethanol daily which meet 33% of Nigeria’s cooking fuel demand. The project is challenged by a lack of stable electricity to run the mini-factories under rural Nigerian settings. This article therefore presents the pathway for ethanol production from cassava feedstock using locally-fabricated rudimentary equipment under rural Nigerian settings.

Keywords:

• bioenergy
• cassakero
• cassava
• cooking fuel
• kerosene substitution
• renewable energy
• smallholder

Notes

¹ http://www.cassavabiz.org/agroenterprise/farming.htm