Zimbabwe’s Reserve Bank, Korean investors, to build multi-feedstock biodiesel plant

In Zimbabwe, the Reserve Bank and a group of Korean investors announced a multi-feedstock biodiesel plant. The facility will utilize sunflower, jatropha, cotton seed and soya. Plant capacity and completion date were not disclosed.

Last month, the president of the Zimbabwe Academy of Sciences, Christopher Chetsanga, said that “It is important for Zimbabwe to engage in the development of biotechnology energy crops such as jatropha, soyabeans and sugarcane so that the country can quickly work towards reducing the amount of fuel that it is importing by systematically replacing it with biofuels. Cuba is already working with a Jatropha variety that can yield 1,500 litres of biodiesel per hectare [174 gallons per acre]. This is a good model for Zimbabwe to emulate.”

The Zimbabwean government recently decided to allocate at least 0.5 percent of the annual GDP to biotechnology research, development and application, and challenged the private sector to match that figure.

Concerns are mounting over deforestation in Zimbabwe resulting from the rise in oil prices and the accompanying use of wood for fuel. The Forestry Company of Zimbabwe projects that the rise in oil prices is causing the loss of 860,000 acres per year.

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