by Jieyi Lu (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  Today, about three billion people still cook and heat their homes with traditional stoves and solid fuels worldwide. These fuels and stoves are major contributors to household air …

(Burn)  Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) announced Kenya-based BURN Manufacturing, makers of the JikokoaTM and KuniokoaTMcookstoves, has been awarded this year’s Bloomberg New Energy Pioneers Award.
The annual award recognizes “game-changing companies” in the field of clean energy …

by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest)  With 195 countries on the planet today, an impressive 53 countries are Commonwealth countries, including countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Pacific. They include large, rich countries …

by Benson Amadala (Daily Nation/All Africa)  Mumias Sugar Company has temporarily stopped crushing of cane due to shortage of raw material.
However, Chief Executive Officer Nashon Aseka on Monday said only the factory’s sugar production line has …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  According to BIO, the global economic value today of the biobased economy – including industrial biotechnology, renewable chemicals and polymers, biofuels, enzymes and biobased materials – is $355.28 billion. And looking at …

by Sanjoy Sanyal (World Resources Institute/Clean Technica/The Beam)  … Taher Zavery’s company, Kitui Industries, started experimenting with biodiesel in 2008, when oil prices were peaking. This alternative fuel produced from vegetable oil is obtained from crushing …

by Jeff Mulhollem (Penn State News)  Agroforestry could play an important role in mitigating climate change because it sequesters more atmospheric carbon in plant parts and soil than conventional farming, according to Penn State researchers.
An agricultural system …

by Faith Nyamai  (Daily Nation)  The Ministry of Environment has pledged to support the use of ethanol stoves in both rural and urban areas in what is expected to play a major role in the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of biofuels mandates and targets around the world, looking at the state of biofuels mandates in 65 countries.
The bulk of mandates continue …

by Susan van Dyk, Emile van Zyl, Brett Pletschke (International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 39)  This short contribution provides some perspectives on opportunities for biofuel production on the African continent. Africa has a large land base, with …

by Michael Hirtzer (Reuters)  U.S. ethanol producers, looking to relieve a growing domestic glut, are hunting for new international fuel markets to replace China and Brazil after trade disputes slashed exports to those top buyers.
…
Without new …

by Alex Brinkley (National Newswatch)  Groups concerned that using grains to make biofuels threatens food security should be paying more attention to the impact of waste on the food supply, says Andrea Kent, Vice-President of Government …

by Lisa Gibson (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The U.S. Grains Council is working to develop ethanol markets in east Africa, which are accessible through the Persian Gulf. Brian Healy, USGC’s vice president of ethanol market development, traveled …

by Jonny Wakefield (Edmonton Journal)  An Edmonton businessman has settled with the province’s securities regulator after admitting to misleading investors.  On Thursday, the Alberta Securities Commission announced it concluded a settlement agreement with David Gregor …

by Kurgat Marindany (The Star, Kenya)  Several senior politicians are being investigated for the illegal importation of ethanol, Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery has said. Nkaissery said on Saturday that security agencies have profiled several senior politicians alleged …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In Africa, the overwhelming use is cookstoves, and for a generation now, companies and organizations have been handing out LPG or ethanol cookstoves trying to move Africa to a new …

(AllAfrica)  The African Climate Technology Center (ACTC) has the mission of supporting Sub-Saharan countries in scaling-up the adoption of clean technologies for adaptation and mitigation, through activities that include knowledge creation and dissemination, support to …

by Jeff Mulhollem  (Penn State News)  Africa and agroforestry — defined as agriculture that incorporates the cultivation and conservation of trees — are in Penn State professor Michael Jacobson’s blood, and the combination has helped shape …

(Bioenergy Insight)  Waste recycling company Asticom K reports that construction is underway on a biogas plant in Kenya on a five acre plot of land donated by a local housing co-operative.
The plant is being built …

(RightsAndResources.org)  Experts at Dakar event point to a significant cause of investment losses, work stoppages and violence across Africa: the failure of governments and companies to respect the land rights of indigenous and local communities
Sixty-three …

by Kieron Monks (CNN)  Croton nut may be ideal fuel with high oil and protein concentration; Leading producers are expanding rapidly; Analysts say croton avoid ethical issues of other biofuels  —  The Croton megalocarpus tree is common throughout …

by Gerald Andae (Business Daily Africa)  Mumias has been importing molasses — the raw material used in ethanol production — from Uganda for over eight months now but, has now extended this to Tanzania.
The loss-making …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Denmark, Novozymes launched Fermax, an enzyme protease that prevents foam development during the sugarcane ethanol fermentation process, while delivering improved control and replacing chemicals. In trials, partners also experienced …

by Kennedy Senelwa  (AllAfrica)  Lack of common standards for blending ethanol with petrol is limiting East Africa’s ability to use biofuels in reducing the carbon emissions from fossil fuels in the transport sector.
The growing demand …

by Renson Mnyamwezi  (Standard Digital)  Police in Mwatate have seized 45,000 litres of ethanol alleged to be imported from Tanzania. Acting on a tip, police at Mwatate Divisional Police Headquarters along the Taveta-Mwatate road flagged down …

by Samuel Messo (Tuko)  Detectives have exposed details of an undercover operation that discovered fishy ethanol dealings associated with a company owned by Raila Odinga’s company;  The EACC detectives followed vehicles that had left the company in …

(Project Gaia)  Ethanol fuel production represents a significant opportunity for economic and social development in the East African Community (EAC) region. Ethanol can be produced locally using a variety of feedstocks that can be selected based on …

by Sharon Ji (Advanced Biofuels USA)  The UN Foundation, PCI, USAID and Tetra Tech sponsored a afternoon of stories and solutions from the sponsors’ Women and Climate Change project which took place on June 23 …

by  Robert Sanders (UC Berkeley/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A new analysis of the genetic diversity of cassava will help improve strategies for breeding disease resistance and climate tolerance into the root crop, a staple and major …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In South Africa, the Energy and Environment Partnership Programme with Southern and East Africa (EEP S&EA) is seeking high-quality applications for projects in the two regions that can contribute to the …

by Fiona Lambe and Marion Davis (Stockholm Environment Institute/Reuters)  … The reality, of course, is that electricity will not reach all households in the immediate future – not to mention, power is so unreliable in much of …

(Stockholm Environment Institute)  This briefing note synthesizes the latest evidence on the impacts of traditional biomass cooking and discusses options for addressing these challenges, with recommendations for policy-makers in Kenya and across sub-Saharan Africa.
In Kenya, …

Melanie Sevcenko  (The Guardian)  Renewable natural gas is a growing industry for fuel, electricity and heat, but advocates says it’s a largely untapped market in the US  —  No matter how you spin it, the …

by Nancy Agutu and Elkana Jacob (The Star) Ethanol worth Sh288 million and contraband sugar valued at Sh56 million were seized in Mombasa between October and December 2015, the EACC has said.
The ethanol in 64 containers …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Who mandates what in biofuels? 64 countries have targets or mandates — but how much where, and when, and what?
In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of biofuels mandates …

This month’s webinar takes us on the road! A few of our contributors have spent time working abroad during sabbatical periods while continuing their involvement with the NEWBio project. But despite being far away, all …

by Anna Hirtenstein (Bloomberg/The Washington Post)  A brew made from sawdust and water hyacinth flowers may help reduce the millions of lives lost across the developing world from the fumes of ramshackle cooking equipment.
Those are the …

by Dinfin Mulupi (How We Made It in Africa)  Africa is seeing a surge in mobile phone-based solutions promising to revolutionise the agricultural industry. Technology entrepreneurs have developed mobile platforms offering a variety of solutions, …

by Olatomiwa Bifarin* (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Around 770,000 BC, it was fire, at some point – wood, dung and coal, to the now-ominous fossil fuels. This is the evolution of energy, and today the evolution …

by Paul Wafula (Standard Digital News)  A sting operation conducted at Mumias Sugar Company premises has uncovered an elaborate network through which some of the firm’s employees have been colluding with rogue Kenya Revenue Authority …

by Janna Farley (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Deforestation and pollution have distressed the country’s environment and beauty. The chronic effects of disease, economic instability and social unrest, coupled with the infrastructure devastation from the 2010 earthquake, …

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine)  The Pew Charitable Trusts has released a report, titled “Power Shifts: Emerging Clean Energy Markets,” that shows clean energy investment in developing countries has grown in real and relative terms.
The …

(The Star) Mumias Sugar will start buying bagasse and molasses from rivals to feed its ethanol production plant, it said after reporting massive losses for the first half ended December 31.  Ethanol revenues decreased by 23 …

(Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves)  This year marks the third round of the Pilot Innovation Fund (PIF), which provides funding and capacity building to organizations and entrepreneurs to develop and test game-changing ideas for the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Who mandates what in biofuels? 64 countries have targets or mandates — but how much where, and when, and what?  In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of …

by Julie Fahnestock (Just Means)  … In fact, traditional cooking methods—open fires of wood and chemically based charcoals—have been deemed “the silent killer.” According to the World Health Organization, more people in the developing world …

(Renewable Fuels Association)  Today, as the first African Sustainable Transport Forum gets under way in Nairobi, Kenya, the Global Renewable Fuels Alliance (GRFA) called on forum attendees to adopt biofuels friendly policies and regulations that …

by Caitlin Kennedy (Biotech NOW)  National Geographic’s October issue contains an in-depth article, “The Next Green Revolution” on how plant biotechnology will be one part of a multifaceted solution to feeding a rapidly growing population in the face of …

by Shankar Rampalli (Mordor Intelligence/Renewable Energy World)   The verdict on biofuels is in, and the catchphrase seems to be over-promised and under-delivered. Biofuels have been in public use in some form or the other for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of biofuels mandates and targets around the world, looking at the state of biofuels mandates in 62 countries.
The bulk of mandates …

(Netzwerk Biotriebstoffe)  The ERA-ARD project “Bioenergy in Africa: Opportunities and Risks of Jatropha and Related Crops” was officially closed at the end of March 2013. Within this project the coordinator published 5 Policy Briefs with …

by Gerald Andae  (Business Daily Africa)    The Kenya Sugar Board asks firms to start ethanol and electricity production in next two years.

Private and State-owned sugar millers that will not have started electricity generation and …

by Robyn Dixon (Los Angeles Times)  Foreign firms seeking land in Africa for biofuel crops run into opposition from communities and environmental activists despite promising jobs and development.
With its leaf-thatched mud huts, bad roads, chronic …

(BusinessWire) Radio Lifeline, a non-profit based in the US, announces the launch of the Black Earth Project, a new initiative designed to help farmers mitigate the growing effects of climate change. Radio Lifeline’s partner in this project is re:char, a …

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 Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA)  The United Nation’s emphasis of “Sustainable Energy for All” (SE4All) in 2012 wrapped up with a decision to continue the focus with a Sustainable Energy for All Decade.  The …

by Sara Mojtehedzadeh  (Edmonton Journal)  Bedford Biofuels’ plantation is stalled, and along with it the company’s promise to provide jobs and cash for community development
…Though this is an arid and unforgiving area, the land surrounding Garsen …

by Drew Kershen (BioFortified)  …I do not write to enter the debate focused on fuel standards, markets and commodity speculators.   I acknowledge that other factors also contribute to food crises, particularly in developing nations – …

(Ventures-Africa)  A 32-year-old Swedish-Kenyan has won the European-African Entrepreneurship Award for a proposal to covert used cooking oils, widely used in the restaurant industry, into biodiesel.
The awards were held in The Hague in the Netherlands, with nine …

(CLC bio)  Today CLC bio and the International Laboratory for Tropical Agricultural Biotechnology (ILTAB) at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, announced a collaboration to benefit the Virus Resistant Cassava for Africa project (VIRCA), a partnership including researchers …

by Karthikeyan Sundaram and Siddharth Philip (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)   Hero MotoCorp Ltd. (HMCL), India’s biggest motorcycle maker, is seeking partners for products such as blended-fuel compatible engines as it prepares to tap customers in Brazil …

by David Muwanga  (AllAfrica.com)  As the East African Community (EAC) was planning to release a total of Ksh1b for the removal of the water hyacinth from Lake Victoria, a United States based technology company has …

(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 …

(Daily Nation)  A Sh12 billion biofuel complex to produce fuel ethanol from tropical sugar beet will be started in Bungoma, with construction commencing immediately. The first trail run is expected early next year.
The company, Webco, …

by The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (FocusingOnWildlife.com)  A Kenyan wildlife haven threatened by the rush to grow biofuels for European companies such as IKEA, has been saved.
The Dakatcha Woodland in Kenya – …

(Project Gaia)  Nigerian Government Agency Launches Microdistillery and Stoves to Provide Sustainable Ethanol Fuel for Household Cooking, Lighting and Small-Scale Power Generation
The National Biotechnology Development Agency (NABDA), a parastatal under the Nigerian Federal Ministry of …

(Project Gaia)  Project Gaia, Inc., a U.S. non profit with operations in East Africa, is working with the UNHCR and others to bring relief to refugees from the Horn of Africa Famine in a very …

(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 Henry Wanyama  (AllAfrica.com)  Tana River councillors have asked the National Environmental Management Authority not to revoke a biofuel project licence in the area. Led by Tana River County Council chairman Salim Golo, they said …

(Nature Canada)  Nature Canada is concerned that a Canadian company – Bedford Biofuels – plans plans to set up a jatropha tree plantation in Kenya’s Tana Delta, an area that provides refuge for 350 bird …

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. …

(Guardian News and Mail)  Gamba Manyatta village is empty now, weeds already roping around the few skeletal hut frames still standing. The people who were evicted took as much of their building materials as they …

By Mazera Ndurya and Daniel Nyassy (Daily Nation)  The environmental watchdog has not licensed a controversial multi-million shilling jatropha project because the investor has not complied with some of the conditions set by the government.
Although …

(Client Earth)  The European Commission has been sued, accused of violating European transparency laws. Environmental law organisation ClientEarth, Friends of the Earth Europe (FOEE), FERN and Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) filed the lawsuit following the …

(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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …NGOs in Africa have been touting for some time the use of ethanol cook stoves, to replace three-stone, wood based stoves that can trigger local deforestation and expose women and …

by Ricardo Sequeiros Coelho   (CoolTheEarth)  A report by ActionAid, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and Nature Kenya revealed that using biofuels from jatropha results in more greenhouse gas emissions than using oil …

by Mazera Ndurya    (AllAfrica.com)  A team of specialists has been set up to study the viability of the controversial jatropha trees after renewed interest by foreign investors to start the project.
The team was formed by …

by Xinhua  (Business Daily)    A Kenyan green energy firm has announced plans to generate ethanol-based electricity.    Gravitas Ltd managing director Lorna Omuondo said the company will introduce ethanol-powered cells into the market by mid …

by Miyuki Iiyama and James Onchieku (SciDev)  It sounds too good to be true: a biofuel crop that grows on semi-arid lands and degraded soils, replaces fossil fuels in developing countries and brings huge injections of cash …

by Joseph Bonyo   (Daily Nation)  …The plant that is expected to produce about 22 million litres of ethanol a year will be the latest addition to the firm’s portfolio.

According to the company, the ethanol will …

by Eric Ombok (Bloomberg)  Mumias Sugar Co., Kenya’s largest producer of the sweetener, secured a 1.6 billion-shilling ($20 million) loan for its ethanol plant to be commissioned next year, the Daily Nation reported.   A group …

(AllAfrica)  A planned biofuel project in Magarini District (Kenya) has put Malindi County Council and ecologists on a collision course.
This follows a request by the National Environment Management Authority for residents’ views on the project, …

by Nick Wadhams/Kibwezi  (Time)  Everyone in Kibwezi, a village in southeastern Kenya parched by four years of drought, remembers the promises. It all started in 2000, when the government started preaching the word about a …