(SG Biofuels/Biodiesel Magazine)  …Through the use of new genetic technologies, SGB’s scientists have revealed that the company’s germplasm collection can be divided into a number of distinct heterotic clades, or genetically related groupings of plants. In …

by Justus Ochieng (AllAfrica)  THE Kisumu molasses plant will outsource for raw materials from Uganda and Tanzania to continue its operations. Insufficient supply of molasses has derailed operations at the company.
The plant had been closed …

by Gerald Kitabu  (IPP Media)  The government of Tanzania has been urged to localise biofuel commercial production by empowering small farmers in terms of training, loans and marketing.
The call was made by Tanzanian researchers and …

by Ashery Mkama   (AllAfrica.com)   Villagers from Kilwa and Rufiji districts have requested the government to involve them in implementation of bio-fuel projects and investments in which huge tracts of land is used.
They told members …

(IPPMedia/The Guardian Reporter)  The government has been urged to reduce the maximum land size of each bio-fuel developer from the proposed 20,000 ha to 10,000 ha and give investors conditions which would enable them deliver.
Speaking …

by David Cronin (New Europe Online)  …The production of biofuels is a central factor behind the grabbing of land in Africa. Yet rather than using food crops, many of the players in this murky game …

(JOil)  • Tamil Nadu sites achieve first-year flowering in three months and first harvest in five months
• Field trials now being conducted in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia
JOil (S) Pte. Ltd., a scientific bioenergy …

by Rick Westhead (The Star)  …Indian industrialist Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi has his eye on this lush scenery, too, but he sees something much different: the potential for large-scale commercial farming.
Karuturi, from the South Indian city …

by Kevin Kelley (The East African)  A leading US environmental group is opposing the planned purchase of 325,000 hectares of land in Tanzania by an American company.
…Opponents charge that the deal amounts to a “land …

by Damian Carrington (The Guardian/The Observer)  The collapse of Sun Biofuels has left hundreds of Tanzanians landless, jobless, and in despair for the future
“People feel this is like the return of colonialism,” says Athumani Mkambala, chairman …

(Netzwerk Biotriebstoffe News)  Biofuel production is booming. Worldwide, production of ethanol for fuel has almost quintupled since 2000, while that of biodiesel has risen by almost 25 times. This is, in part, a response to policies …

by Finnigan Wa Simbeye    (AllAfrica.com)  An ambitious biodiesel project which was allocated over 8,000 hectares of land by Kisarawe district officials in 2008 is in trouble.
Employees and casual workers of Sun Biofuels Plc, told Business …

(The Daily News)  THE government has been warned against allocating over 320,000 hectares of prime land in Rukwa Region to an American agro-firm, Agrisol Energy, which is seeking to undertake large scale commercial farming for …

(AllAfrica.com)  The Muheza District-based Mlingano Agriculture Research Institute (ARI-Mlingano) is set to undertake a sisal characterisation programme aimed at developing a protocol for the production of ethanol and citric acid from liquid effluents.
The programme which …

by Joao Peixe  (OilPrice.com)  The bio-ethanol gel is an alternative biofuel developed by Consumer’s Choice Limited to reduce Kenya’s reliance on imported petroleum.
…Consumer’s Choice Limited developed a bio-ethanol gel made from molasses derived from sugarcane. …

by Niki Moore (Bloomberg)  Illovo Sugar Ltd. (ILV), Africa’s largest producer of the sweetener, plans to start making potable ethanol from molasses in Tanzania by 2013, Managing Director Graham Clark said.
“We have created an opportunity in …

(AllAfrica/The Citizen)  Tanzania is set to import ethanol from Brazil in its bid to lower fuel prices by 10 per cent.
This was said in Dar es Salaam over the weekend by Mr Leo Lyayuka, a …

by Damian Carrington and Stefano Valentino (The Guardian)  British firms have acquired more land in Africa for controversial biofuel plantations than companies from any other country, a Guardian investigation has revealed.
Half of the 3.2m hectares (ha) …

(AllAfrica.com)  Jatropha should not replace any crops in arable farms and instead should be cultivated by smallholder farmers as hedges for farms, an expert has warned.
Pamoja Inc Co-Director Jonathan Otto said in Dar es Salaam …

by Bright Owusu  (Ghana mma)  The time has never been riper for the people of Ghana to speak out about the terrible negligence of consecutive governments who have allowed horrendous land grabs by foreign nationals …

by Michael Haonga (IPP Media/The Guardian)  Tanzania has reaffirmed its commitment to sustain a multi-faceted strategy for harnessing power from various sources, including biofuel, to cover any shortfall.
The assurance was made in Dar es Salaam …

(The Citizen Reporter)  Tanzania urgently needs to put in place a policy framework to guide biofuel crops production and stave off the danger of serious food shortages in communities around biofuel plantations, a new study has …

by Beatrice Philamon (IPP Media)  Tanzanian and Brazilian experts are expected to carry out a countrywide survey to identify and propose strategic areas that would be allocated for biofuel farming.
“Our intention is to have special areas …

(China Economic Net)  A huge potential for producing biofuels is expected in Tanzania without hampering the cultivation of food crops, according to a new study.
Conducted by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) recently, the …

(AllAfrica.com)  Sun Biofuels, a British firm that has invested in jatropha plantations in Tanzania, envisages offering full time employment to 1,500 Tanzanians in its jatropha biofuel project at Kisarawe.
Of the 1,500 people, 400 are already …

by Emmanuel Sulle and Fred Nelson  (Tanzania Natural Resource Forum’s Forestry Working Group and the International Institute for Environment and Development)  In recent years, biofuels have rapidly emerged as a major issue for agricultural development, …

The Global Sustainable Biomass Fund supports developing countries in making their biomass production for energy uses sustainable. It thus enables them to access the local or international market of sustainable biomass for energy uses. The …

By Mike Mande  (The East African)  Tanzania has suspended investments worth millions of dollars after a storm of protest over the eviction of farmers to make way for biofuels.   The EastAfrican has learnt that the country …

by Happy Lazaro (Arusha Times)  The United States of America has given Tanzania Tsh.6.5 billion (US Dollars 5.4 million) for development of Jatropha farming in rural areas.  The American government issued the money through its …