Rwanda: Taking Advantage of Biofuels

The furiously developing food verses fuel debate is threatening to put developing countries which have to buy both commodities in order for its citizens to survive, between a rock and a hard place.

For an average net importer of food and fuel, like Rwanda, the idea of biofuels would appear to be the savior in these dire times, especially when our dependency on fossil fuels is proving to be a major headache to the growing economies of our kind.
During the recent Rome food summit, the deliberations were marred by the clash of opinions, with the biofuel proponents putting down their foot firmly on any resolution that would hint at blaming what is supposed to be a source of renewable energy.

By definition, biofuels are any kind of fuel made from living things, or from the waste they produce. This means that firewood and biogas both fall into this category.

The energy balances of most African countries suggest that biofuels (wood fuel, crop and wood residues, and dung) constitute the largest share of total energy consumption (up to 97% in some sub-Saharan Africa countries).

AllAfrica