Liquid biofuels consist of gasohol (also called bioethanol) which is a blend of gasoline and alcohol, and biodiesel which is a blend of diesel and oil from plants.
Alcohol and oil can also be consumed neat by motor engines depending on design.
And in countries where agricultural conditions (land and water) are sufficient for basic food security, biofuels can be an incremental economic activity.
For countries that import fossil fuels like Kenya, biofuels can reduce forex spend on energy imports. Alternatively, biofuels can be exported to earn dollars.
Biofuels have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels making them credible climate-protection alternatives. And when labelled green, biofuels can enter carbon credit trading markets to earn dollars for Kenya.
Kenya has done biofuels in the past and is doing it today, albeit in a small scale. To reduce oil import bill in early 1980s Kenya mandated a 10 percent blend of alcohol and gasoline for the market supplied out of Nairobi depots.
The ACFC factory at Muhoroni was making several by-products out of molasses feedstocks at a time when the sugar sector was at its peak.
A second alcohol factory west of Kisumu town was constructed but never commissioned due to shortage of molasses, as the sugar sector started to decline.
The gasohol blend program was abandoned when exports of bulk alcohol fetched more dollars than savings in oil import costs. In 1980s, the world was yet to conceive the climate change theory, which was formalised at Rio forum in 1991 .
The newly launched Kenya Sugar Board has recently announced plans to go into alcohol-based fuels as a major step in broadening the sugar sector value chains, a proposition which is definitely achievable , especially as Kenya continues to import fossil fuels. However, the livestock sector should never be starved of essential molasses feedstock.
And biodiesel enterprise is currently ongoing in Makueni county, driven by an Italian multinational oil company, ENI.
Oil from non-food plants like castor, croton, cotton seed , and even recycled used cooking oil is processed and exported for eventual formulation into Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) for aircrafts as an alternative to fossil kerosene jet-fuel - part of ENI energy transition objectives.
Biodiesel should never be in competition with edible oils supply chains which Kenya is still struggling to satisfy. Biodiesel crops should be grown in marginal semi-arid areas where competition with food crops is minimal. Nor should carbon absorbing forests be cleared to make room for biodiesel crops.
Kenya needs clear policies and mandates to guide biofuels sub-sector to manage potential conflicts between food security, energy security, climate obligations and investor commercial interests.
