Assessment of Feedstock Options for Biofuels Production in Ghana

Francis Kemausuor, Joseph Oppong Akowuah, Emmanuel Ofori

Department of Agricultural Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana.

DOI: 10.4236/jsbs.2013.32017                

Abstract

In the wake of climate change and increasing fossil fuel prices, biofuels are becoming attractive to agricultural dependent economies in sub-Saharan Africa and other regions of the world. This study evaluates the energy production potential of biomass resources grown on the available arable agricultural land under two principal scenarios: using 2.5% and 5% of the available arable land for energy crop expansion. Using conservative biofuel yields from crops in the sub-region, a 2.5% of uncultivated arable land dedicated to four traditional crops grown in Ghana namely maize, cassava, sweet sorghum and oil palm could potentially replace 9.3% and 7.2% of transportation fuels by 2020 and 2030 respectively. Using 5% of the uncultivated arable land to cultivate the above four crops and jatropha could potentially produce biofuel to replace 17.3% of transport fuels by 2020 and 13.3% by 2030. In order to enrol such a scheme, government is encouraged to put in place appropriate structures to ensure that, the industry meet international sustainability standards.

Keywords

Biofuels; Feedstock; Ghana

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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