The Sunday Mail
Production of alternative and sustainable energy in Zimbabwe has been on an upward trend since the turn of the millennium.
| Government has put in place measures to promote the development of cleaner energy sources. Promoting the usage of blended liquid fuels is one the key components of the policies. |
Following the mandatory blending policy introduced by Government in 2011, all the fuel that is sold locally has to be blended with ethanol.
Green Fuel, the giant ethanol producer domiciled in Chisumbanje, has not let the local industry down. At least nine to 10 million litres of ethanol are being produced every month. The estate has immensely contributed to national development and continues to do so through various innovations that enhance productivity and the quality of the final product.
Fields Manager, Mr Lovemore Chikwamure, recently took The Sunday Mail Extra on a site tour at the multi-million dollar plant and estates and said the company had moved away from the conventional way of harvesting sugar cane and producing energy.
Mr Chikwamure said the company’s farming methods were adopted mainly from Brazil and Mauritius. The two countries are the biggest ethanol producers in the world.
“In Southern Africa, we are the first to produce energy in a clean efficient manner such that last year, South Africa and Zambia visited the estate to take a look at the way we are producing energy,” he said.
“We are trying as much as possible to mitigate the effects of climate change such that we do not throw anything away — from the water we use for irrigation to the by-products of the ethanol. We are selling carbon dioxide to companies such as Coca Cola in order to maximise on efficiency.”
Sitting on 9 800 ha with Chisumbanje and Middle Sabi estates, irrigation water is drawn from Save River through canals stretching over 30 km. Water from the canals is then transported into the sugar cane fields through layflats — some plastic pipes that replaced the manually dug trenches to conserve water.
The company has also ceased pre-harvest burning. Sugar cane used to be burnt two weeks before harvesting. They are now conducting green cane harvesting which eliminates the burning.
Green cane harvesting allows some cane residue to remain in the fields, thereby promoting water retention.
It has also increased bagasse, a by-product that is used to heat the boilers that produce ethanol and electricity.
During the inception of the project in 2009, 1 754 households were displaced and to date, the company has relocated about 1 000 households while over $10 million has been used to develop 1 200 hectares of irrigated land for communal farmers.
Green Fuel director, Ms Nicole Mollet highlighted that plans are underway to add 1 000ha of land by year-end and in the next two years, 40 000ha must be under sugar cane production.
Ms Mollet said the company is working in line with Government’s thrust to give back through community share ownership schemes.
“Some 250 hectares have been developed for war veterans while 410 hectares have been developed for local settler farmers who are currently participating in an out-grower scheme,” she said.
“The remaining 450 hectares have been developed for community farmers in line with Green Fuel’s commitment to develop 10 percent of all land under sugarcane for the community. Thus, over 900 farmers have benefited from this and as development of land for sugarcane production continues, further irrigation schemes will be put in place.”
In 2012, an inter-ministerial committee report recommended an arrangement for communities to be out growers and sell their produce to the company. Chisumbanje is located in natural region five, which is a drought-prone area with erratic rainfall.
One villager, Ms Virginia Matezwa, said the irrigation scheme has saved the community during dry spells.
“The El Nino-induced drought that affected the rest of the country could have untold suffering in this area because naturally, this area receives little rainfall. However, because of the irrigation facilities availed by Green Fuel, we managed to grow maize twice this season. Livestock was not affected because we had maize stalks, trash from the sugar cane as well as water that is pumped from Save River to the estate. Upstream, the river is slowly drying up and some communities are struggling, however, many communities in this area are surviving because of the water pumped from Save.
“We are now able to send our children to school. Life is good here in Chisumbanje,”she added with a smile.
However, the company has found itself in a number of spats with locals over allegations of polluting the Save River.
Experts say Zimbabwe is endowed with many renewable energy sources that can save the country millions of dollars in revenue. This, in turn, could reduce the trade deficit with domestic ethanol production replacing petroleum products. Lecturer in the University of Zimbabwe’s department of electrical engineering, Mr Golden Kapungu, said there is need for the country to invest in alternative energy sources.
“We have an abundance of resources in the country that has not been fully utilised. We need to reduce energy dependence on imported petroleum products. This will improve the liquidity crisis by ensuring that money that would have been spent on imported petroleum products remains in the local market. Government needs to look into this and adequately invest in this sector. This is not something that can be done overnight but it will save the country a lot of revenue.”
