‘Zim Sitting on 130 Tonnes of Jatropha Seed‘

by Xolisani Ncube (NewsDay) Zimbabwe has stockpiled over 130 tonnes of jatropha seeds for biodiesel production, but cannot commercialise the product due to lack of funding to blend the fuel for public consumption, Parliament was told yesterday.

“We want to have a fuel station, the idea is to sell this biodiesel after blending. We have a licence to sell this diesel at B5 level, which is 5% being biodiesel, while the remainder being mineral diesel. The challenge that arises is where do were getting funding for the 95% of the mineral diesel? While we got a licence to sell this, we have a serious challenge of getting funding for blending and sell our product,” he said.

The project, which was once touted as the panacea to the country’s fuel woes, was initially expected to roll out in 2007, but has remained in the pipeline amid reports that it requires at least $11,7 million to start running.

Biofuel production has been linked to numerous environmental and socio-impacts such as atmospheric pollutant emissions, increased water use, water pollution, soil erosion, deforestation, biodiversity loss, income/employment generation, energy security, food security, human health and social conflicts.

Also appearing before the same committee was Pedzisai Tapfumaneyi, the acting chief executive officer for Verify Engineering — a State-owned firm that seeks to produce fuel and other petroleum products from coal. READ MORE