
Mission Biofuels Sdn. Bhd
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Дата на основаване декември 27, 2018
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Сектори Архитектура, Строителство и Градоустройство
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Cotton Waste Biofuel Powers Farmers to Combat Drought In Kenya
By Nita Bhalla
KITUI, Kenya, June 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Kenyan farmer Abel Mutie Mathoka believed it must be a joke when he was told he could water his drought-hit crops more inexpensively, cleanly and effectively utilizing a pump fuelled by cotton waste.
„Who could think it’s possible to make a fuel better than diesel from cotton seeds? I didn’t!“ laughed Mathoka, crouching down to examine the watermelons on his 10-acre (four-hectare) shared plot in Ituri village in Kenya’s southeast Kitui county.
„But it works,“ he stated, walking over to a nearby tree and plucking a large green pawpaw. „Irrigation with this biodiesel water pump has helped me get greater yields, specifically throughout drought periods.“
Mathoka stated his incomes had doubled in the 2 years he has actually been pumping water using biodiesel, which is both more effective and 20 shillings ($0.20) per litre more affordable than routine diesel.
The biodiesel he is using is not just excellent news for him – it is also good news for the world.
Unlike a lot of biofuels, which are obtained from crops such as maize, sugarcane, soybean, rapeseed and jatropha curcas, it is made from a by-product of the cotton-making procedure.
That implies that in addition to being cleaner and more affordable than regular fuel, it is more sustainable than other biofuels because no additional land is required to produce it.
From Brazil to Indonesia, the rush to cultivate biofuel crops has actually driven forest neighborhoods off their land and pressed farmers to switch from crops-for-food to more rewarding crops-for-fuel – intensifying food shortages.
„Our biodiesel comes from squashing cotton seeds left over as waste after ginning – the process of separating the seeds from raw cotton,“ stated Taher Zavery, handling director of Zaynagro Industries Ltd, the Kitui-based company producing the biodiesel.
„We started producing and using it to power our cotton ginning factory in 2011. With increased production, we now utilize it for our trucks, sell it to the United Nations to run a few of their buses – and likewise to regional farmers for watering.“
More than 1,200 farmers in Kitui have actually up until now bought biodiesel pumps for watering as part of an initiative released by Zaynagro in 2015, said Zavery.
DRY RIVER BEDS
Climate change is taking a toll across east Africa and progressively irregular weather is ending up being commonplace in countries such as Kenya, Somalia, Uganda and Ethiopia, leading to lower rains.
The recurring droughts are ruining crops and pastures and are starving animals – pushing millions of individuals in the Horn of Africa to the verge of extreme appetite.
The variety of Kenyans in need of food help in March rose by almost 70 percent over a duration of 8 months to 1.1 million, mostly due to poor rains, according to government figures.
With almost half Kenya’s 47 counties declared to have a severe lack of rain, firms are cautioning of increased hunger in the months ahead.
„Only light rains is anticipated through June … and this is not anticipated to relieve dry spell in affected areas of Kenya and Somalia,“ stated the Famine Early Warning Systems Network in its latest report.
„Well below-average crop production, bad livestock body conditions, and increased regional food rates are prepared for, which will reduce bad homes’ access to food.“
In Kitui’s Kyuso area, the indications are already evident.
Rivers, water pans and dams are drying up as an outcome of the extended drought.
Villagers complain of trekking longer distances – in some cases more than 10 km (6 miles) with their donkeys loaded with empty jerry cans in search of water.
Small-scale farmers, most of whom are dependent on rain-fed agriculture, discuss plans to offer their goats to make ends satisfy if the harvest is poor.
BATTLING DROUGHT WITH BIODIESEL
But not all Kitui’s farmers are stressed.
A little however growing number are shedding their problem of reliance on the weather – and buying irrigation systems powered by Zaynagro’s cotton seed biodiesel through a pay-as-you-go plan introduced more than 3 years earlier.
Neighbouring farmers unite to purchase the watering system – that includes the biodiesel pump, 12 metres of pipelines and 10 litres of biodiesel – at expenses beginning with 32,000 shillings, depending on the size of the pump.
The farmers make an initial payment, then pay interest-free regular monthly instalments up until the overall is paid off. They buy the biodiesel to run the pumps from Zaynagro at 80 shillings a litre.
Farmer Alex Babu Kitheka, 39, stated the biodiesel pump enabled him to irrigate a larger part of his one-acre plot, where he grows a range of vegetables including maize, tomatoes, spinach and sweet potatoes.
„With a diesel pump, maize yields were lower and I would get 15,000 shillings in 3 months. With the biodiesel pump, I can earn 45,000 shillings,“ said Alex Babu Kitheka, standing near his plot in Ilangilo village, 40 km (25 miles) from Kitui town.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY
Other farmers point to the plan as a significant benefit in assisting improve their output.
„The instalment scheme is great. Most farmers don’t have the cash and can not easily get a loan to purchase a pump like this,“ said Maurice Kitheka Munyoki, 41, as he stood next to his blue biodiesel pump.
„Having a scheme like this assists us a lot. Our yields are great which indicates we can settle the expense of the pump slowly in percentages, and have money left over to pay the school charges.“
Zaynagro’s effort is still in its early phases, with few farmers having paid back the complete cost of the pumps.
But such biofuel schemes are appealing since they produce a circular economy by turning waste to biofuel for earnings, stated Sanjoy Sanyal, senior partner for Clean Energy Finance at the World Resources Institute.
The simplicity of the design – easy-to-use, robust innovation, ensured supply of biodiesel combined with a pay-as-you-go plan – might help amaze rural Africa, he said.
„There is a mosaic of sustainable energy choices in the world. The essential problem is checking concepts and methods in a collaborative style,“ stated Sanyal.
„Other cotton ginning factories in the area should try and find out from this experiment. Banks ought to begin explore loans to groups of farmers. International donors and investors need to support experimentation.“
($1 = 101.3000 Kenyan shillings) (Reporting by Nita Bhalla @nitabhalla, Editing by Claire Cozens. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, ladies’s and LGBT+ rights, human trafficking, residential or commercial property rights and environment modification. Visit http://news.trust.org)