In Mozambique, the first
sustainable cooking fuel facility was inaugurated
by Federal Minister of Agriculture José Pacheco. The CleanStar
project will produce ethanol-based cooking fuel for sale with the company’s
cookstoves, an affordable new form of cooking that is cleaner, faster and safer
than using charcoal.
The plant in Dondo, in
Mozambique’s Sofala Province, will produce 579,000 gallons per year of
ethanol-based cooking fuel from surplus cassava supplied by local farmers, who
have transitioned in partnership with CleanStar from slash-and-burn farming to
more resilient conservation agriculture techniques involving synergistic
cultivation of crops and trees to drastically increase their production and
nutrition levels.
“Today marks an important
milestone in the mission to eliminate dirty cooking fuels from Africa’s leading
cities”, says CleanStar Mozambique Chairman, Greg Murray. “This facility
produces clean cooking fuel in a way that generates a reliable new income
stream for local farmers, while ensuring that a continuous and affordable fuel
supply reaches urban households. Our private-sector led approach in Mozambique
provides an encouraging example for other resource-constrained African
countries that are struggling to respond to rising food and energy prices,
growing cities, and shrinking forests.“
The biofuel manufacturing plant
is a key part of the integrated food and energy business of CleanStar
Mozambique, a company formed in 2010 by Novozymes and CleanStar Ventures, and
uses surplus cassava for ethanol, as well as beans, sorghum, pulses and soya,
which are processed into packaged food products for sale in Mozambique’s
cities.
In Maputo, CleanStar has
started pre-sales of its NDZiLO cookstove and cooking fuel products through its
company-owned shop network, which is being expanded across the city in preparation
for full launch later this year.
“City women are tired of
watching charcoal prices rise, carrying dirty fuel, and waiting for the day
that they can afford a safe gas stove and reliable supply of imported
cylinders,” commented Thelma Venichand, CleanStar’s Director of Sales and
Marketing. “They are ready to buy a modern cooking device that uses
clean, locally-made fuel, performs well and saves them time and money.”
Throughout Africa, more than
80% of urban families buy charcoal to cook their food, a commodity that is
increasing in price as forests retreat, in a market now estimated to be worth
more than $10 billion “deforestation dollars” per annum. In Maputo for example,
charcoal prices have doubled over the last 3 years.
According to the World Health
Organization inhaling charcoal smoke has the health impact of smoking two packs
of cigarettes per day, and the organization estimates that indoor air pollution
from solid fuel use, including charcoal, causes almost 2 million deaths
annually.
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