I am a regular contributed to Ghanaweb comments and I have in the past being guilty of doing exactly what the writer of the above article did, provided personal opinions as fact and even gone further to criticize both present and past government on issues I must confess I have no technical knowledge or simple research to find out if the subject is currently being debated by either public or private sector.
The writer had up to this day 92 comments and I took the time to read some of them. To my dismay a bulk of the comments seems to suggest the writer was absolutely right. The subject was on why Ghanaians are paying $4.00 per barrel of Gasoline when according to him there are cheaper alternatives.
All around the world and especially in recent times, the “Green” word has created scientist overnight. People are quick to offer alternatives to fossil fuels without pausing to exam the economics. Sure we all want to have a better earth, sure we want our children to live a better future and more so we want to pay less for powering our homes and cars. The question is, alternative green fuel has never been proven to be cheaper than fossil fuel. –Prove me wrong
Ethanol by definition is a highly concentrated distilled -dehydrated alcohol. (Basic). The ethanol blends being promoted around the world included E10 and E85 which represents the amount of gasoline in relationship to the ethanol. That is E10 has a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gasoline. The writer claims and he was right that Ghanaians can not easily convert to higher than 10% ethanol ratios since this will require massive investments. As such he recommended E10 which is warranted for cars younger than 10 years. I am not sure if the writer did the economies of 10% ratios. How much would we be saving if we blend on a 10% level? Surely every little bit helps and I am not against as starting from somewhere but more interested in the facts and the consequences.
Another pint is ethanol blends being touted by the writer has a 30% fewer miles per gallon than100% gasoline and cost more.
Africa as a whole has a problem of unstructured agriculture system. A farmer in Ghana in most cases will not insure this produce. Whereas if floods destroy a farm in Idaho the state and federal Government will compensate the farmer in most cases up to 110%, the farmer in Ghana will reply on handouts from benevolent neighbors or the society. The ultimate appoint is ,…for Ethanol projects one must first structure your agriculture system so as not to create artificial price hikes in food supply just to accommodate the rich who drive V6 cars in Accra. Examples are the increases price of corm, barley, wheat in the Western world and by products like sugar. A few plants in Germany are closing down due to the cost of feedstocks (Raw Inputs). New conduction plants are on hold after the price fell and the cost of Feedstock rose as well.
The second point which the writer failed to make and in fact the biggest is to assume that the Government is not doing anything to ease the demand on fossil fuels. I will edge one to call the EPA and the Ministry of Energy first before making such assertions. Ghana is one of the few African countries formulating polices for Biodisel. In fact just this year a $30 million project is underway in Ghana for Biodisel. A private venture group is also looking at a $6.6 million project using cassava as feedstock. Massive works has been done in the Jatropha plants and millions available for Ghanaians to tap into. If you want more information please call Eric Ofori-Nyarko at the EPA before criticizing. I don’t know him personally but am sure he can be of help.
I believe we should shoot for E10 by 2012 the latest and B5 levels by 2010 with a long term goal of E20 TO E30 (Brazil Model) by 2020 and B20 AND B100 by 2015. Investments for Ethanol plants around the world are currently on the downside with the decline of Ethanol prices and the excise duties impose by some markets. As such domestic needs will be very much limited base on the target for E10 by 2010. This can be financed on a micro level with various feedstock’s like cassava, sugar cane, sweet sorghum to limit the impact on food supply. In the mean time we should be formulating legislative to structure the Agricultural system and land tenure to encourage more insurance products for farmer, increase seed research and continue the wonderful out grower schemes. With the increase in the demand for Ethanol projected in the future and the increase in crude oil I believe investors will ease-up to setting up Ethanol plants on a vertical scale. Acquire 30,000 hectares and a plant capable of producing over 80 million gallon at a cost of $150 million. The Government should at that point grant total zero import duties on Flex-Fuel Cars. Mandate all Government vehicles which are not used for defense or national security to use flex-fuel. Grant Tax amnesty to plants over 50 million liters per year with diverse feedstock capability.
In conclusion I believe all green-power or alternative fuels are great options but might not currently be suitable for most African countries. African as whole contributes less than 5% of the greenhouse gases. The western world has created a monster and they should deal with it. The solutions promised now are costly for us to implement. However with research and on-going trials Africa should be able to leap-frog when we are ready. Wind Energy is “cool” yet “very very” expensive and besides Ghana does not have the wind for bigger commercially feasible units. Solar panels cost about $25,000 per a house with three four air-conditions. Storage of power during the day to be used at night is currently a nightmare as such reverse billing will have to apply and I am not sure ECG has the capability. Reverse billing is when one generates power from solar and feeds it back into the grid, this process will reverse the meter readings and during the night the consumer will switch to grid power and be billed. At the end of the month he is either billed for the net power used or credited for if less. Beside Ghana uses more Biomass than petroleum and the emphasis should be there in my opinion.
Once again, ethanol is cool but we should proceed cautiously. We need our food security first. Ethanol production will compete with our stable foods in Ghana. Robbing Peter, john, Judas to pay Paul will not cut it as my US of Americans will say. And any venture into Ethanol or bio-diesel should be vertical. The promoter should own the plantation and augment with out grower schemes to avoid interruption in our food supply.
Countrymen please find time to link up developments in your country. There are a lot you can add your Two cents to. Your talent and skills are needed even from a distance. Be positive and believe. As always never take anything on face value without crosschecking including this article for I am a computer programmer not an environmental policy maker. Oh…this is what one calls “My two cents”
Reference:
http://www.jatrophaafrica.com/
http://biopact.com/2007/10/caltech-ventures-to-produce-ethanol.html
http://www.energycom.gov.gh/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57
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