Windhoek — A project to combat bush encroachment by using the vegetation for electricity generation has secured funding from the National Planning Commission's Rural Poverty Reduction Programme (RPRP).

The aim of the project, Combatting Bush Encroachment for Namibia's Development (C-Bend) is to assess the actual economics of generating electricity from invader bush and develop the best management practices for rural bush to energy.

When proved successful, the project, which starts September, will pave the way for the introduction of such technologies in rural communities and areas.

C-Bend is a collaborarative effort of the Desert Research Foundation Namibia (DRFN), Namibia Agricultural Union (NAU) and Namibia National Farmer's Union (NNFU). The project has signed a contract which will see the commissions poverty reduction programme disburse N$14 million.

Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient Capacity Building Project's Caroline Coulson told New Era yesterday they are still working on where the project will be located. The project is expected to be located in one of the areas with a high density of invader bush around the north centrals areas of Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein.

Other criteria to be considered for the project site include proximity of the areas to electricity, where the generated power can be fed into the national grid and also the willingness of farmers around those areas to have their farms used. The objective of the project is to get a bush to electricity enterprise up and running and through the enterprise hopefully change the perception that invader bush is a nuisance. The bush will be harvested sustainably as a resource in a way that it can be re-harvested in future.

Until now, the charcoal industry is the largest converter of invader bush to wood fuel substitutes. It produces about 30000 tonnes per annum, most of which is exported.

But the fact sheet said converting bush to electricity would have a greater impact in terms of both bush clearing and the resulting benefits to the Namibian economy.

Studies indicate that 26 million hectares of agricultural land is infested with invader bush, which prevents the growth of useful grass species and compaction of soil in the bush encroached areas. This has reduced the land's carrying capacity resulting in reduced cattle numbers over the years and to economic losses of N$700 million every year. A fact sheet of the C-Bend project says Namibia's bush to electricity energy potential in bush infested areas using available electricity generating technologies and applying ecological management principles lies between 0.5 and 2.5 Mwh per hectares per year.

At a sustainable yield of 2 Mwh per hectare, some 1 .5 million hectares of bush harvested each year would ensure that Namibia's entire annual electricity consumption of 3000 Gwh is generated. The Ministry of Mines and Energy in 2000 conducted studies to assess small and large-scale biomass technologies, both of which were found to be viable but could not go on due to the cheaper electricity that was sourced from South Africa. The lack of generation capacity at present as well as technology developments present new opportunities for the introduction of small-scale decentralised wood gasification technologies. A 0.5MW wood gasification plant costs over N$4 million and produces 3 500 Mwh per hectare and taking into account sales of N$0.3 per kWh, annual revenues from the sale of electricity would yield some N$1 million. This would also result in an increased carrying capacity of debushed land and also yield additional income. Nampower, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, the Namibia Women's Association and Regional Councils have endorsed the project.

Invader bush is a resource from which animal fed, charcoal product, chip boards, and bush blocks can also be produced.