Mozambique’s national petroleum company this week unveiled a major $550m biofuels project, with the aim of producing 226 million litres of ethanol and biodiesel within 7 years.
Sugar cane and jatropha, a drought-resistant shrub, will be the primary feedstocks for the project. Reuters in Maputo has the dirt:
Officials have suggested that jatropha, ricin, African palm and coconuts — all of which grow abundantly in Mozambique — could provide the raw material for biodiesels, while sugar cane, maize and cassava could be used to produce ethanol.
Mozambique also hopes to be able to export biofuels to neighbouring African nations and further afield.