Report Analyzes Africa’s Biofuel Potential

A summary of two reports related to the analysis of Africa’s biofuels potential can be read at the Biopact website. Biopact is an organization of European and African citizens whose efforts are channelled toward the establishment of a “mutually beneficial 'energy relationship' based on biofuels and bioenergy”.

The summary is based on the analysis by the Copernicus Institute at the University of Utrecht. The calculation of the biofuel potential was based on some factors such as “demographic trends, the demand for food, fiber and wood products, and changes in land-use patterns.” Among the findings of the report were: (a) sub-Saharan Africa has the largest energy potential (estimated maximum is about 410 x 1018 joules of energy), (b) under a high productivity scenario, the biofuel production potential of the planet is said to be several times larger than the total amount of energy that can be obtained from both fossil fuels and nuclear power, (c) Africa still stands to become a large biofuels producer, even when the worst-case climate change predictions are taken into account