Tunis, Tunisia — The African Development Bank [AfDB] hosted a one day seminar on "Biomass and Bio energy Development in Africa" on Tuesday in Tunis, to seek inputs on the subject to feed into its new energy strategy .
Opening the seminar, AfDB Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department (ONEC) Director, Hela Cheikhrouhou, underscored the importance of the meeting in crafting the Bank's energy strategy and five year work plan, noting that bio-energy was a new and controversial idea in Africa.
"I encourage all participants to explore realistically the question at hand which is how can the African Development Bank support socially and environmentally sound investments in bio fuels?" Ms Cheikhrouhou said. She however emphasized that the Bank could work on high-level principles and guidelines to make bio energy part of the solution to the global energy challenge.
For his part, Geoffrey Manley of the private sector department outlined the Bank's experience in bio energy projects giving specific examples including the Markala, Addax and Add on bio energy projects in Mali, Sierra Leone and East Africa, respectively. These projects are based on sugar cane production that has some comparative advantages over other agricultural produce that could be turned into energy source. "We all realize that the burning of fossil fuels has increased our greenhouse gas emissions significantly with a major impact on climate. We must reduce our greenhouse gas emissions," he said. According to Mr. Manley, harnessing bio energy could be part of the solution.
In his intervention, Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)'s Expert, Medhat El Helepi, further explained that fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas which are not renewable; currently provide most of the continent's energy supply with continually rising prices. "The need for alternative energy is clear. Bio energy is a vital tool that can help Africa face the twin challenge of rural poverty and energy insecurity and should be approached holistically at all levels in Africa," he added.
Other participants including experts from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa, GIZ, and Mozambique, urged the Bank to deepen its knowledge in the field of biomass and bio energy. Discussions centered on: the nature and scope of bio energy projects, their cost benefit analysis, possible technologies and strategies, their sustainability, selectivity and environmental safeguards. Most of the participants agreed that bio energy as a natural resource can help generate employment and higher incomes especially in rural areas of developing countries. Some, however, argued that without adequate and holistic safeguards at all levels, investing in bio energy could be counter productive to sustainable development and food security.
Several issues and best practices were raised with regards to the Bank's approach to bio energy financing. These include how best AfDB could mainstream bio energy into its operations and possible instruments to assist African countries in the domain. Other questions raised at the end of the seminar to guide the Bank in its reflection towards adopting a clear position on the subject were summarized as follows:
Is the project bankable? The AfDB will not engage in small scale biomass projects, due to the relatively high transaction costs for small projects.
Is it a top priority? The project needs to ensure food security; at best contribute to overall agricultural productivity.
What are the fuel preferences and selection of techniques? Residue based (forest residues for direct thermal power generation, agricultural residues bio gas/co gen, and bio gas from manure/sewage), liquid bio fuels (ethanol, bio diesel), etc.
Who has the land use rights? Is relocation necessary? Since the need for larger acreage for the agricultural production could arise, bio energy projects should minimize relocation and compensate properly for displacement. They should possibly employ small subsistence farmers directly affected by the project. The clarification of land use rights needs to be assessed first often public land is used by traditional land use right and not registered. Thus, guiding principles for possible relocation need to be defined.
Have environmental safeguards and biodiversity been taken into consideration? This includes standards for irrigation, fertilization, and crop rotation/agricultural practices that do not deplete soils. In particular, GIS and spatial observation techniques can enhance the information on what kind of ecosystem pre exists and if farming activities had been conducted on the land.
In conclusion, participants called on the Bank to establish its bio energy strategy, with a clear definition of bankable projects. In other words, should the bank engage in rather large scale bio fuels production, residue utilization for utility sized co generation and sewage biogas utilization, as well as in the use of fuel efficient stoves and ovens?
The seminar was jointly sponsored by the AfDB, and the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ). It was coordinated by the Bank's Climate Change Division with Senior Climate Change Economist, Sebastian Veit, as the Task Manager.
