Bioenergy potential from invasive alien plants: Environmental and socio-economic impacts in Eastern Cape, South Africa

Rethinking the role of value-added industries for invasive trees in South Africa

“…This discussion is illustrated by an on-going flagship bioenergy project in the province of Eastern Cape (Vera et al 2022). A pellet factory running on sawmill residues went bankrupt and was taken over in 2019 by a South-African–Dutch consortium with support from the Dutch government.…”

“…It is particularly interesting that these pellets are not processed in-country to replace coal in the context of the energy transition and commitments made by South Africa in the wake of the Paris Agreement in 2015 as part of the Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC). The reason lies at least partly with the lack of an enabling environment: South Africa has not put in place a high enough carbon price so far for bioenergy produced out of invasive trees can compete with coal (note that CO 2 emissions from road transport to Mpumalanga province where coal-fired plants are concentrated are estimated to be broadly equivalent to shipping to The Netherlands – Vera et al 2022; but they would be much lower if the wood is sourced from nearby infested sites). As it stands the carbon price is USD 9.2 per tCO 2 e (World Bank 2022), and the breakeven price remains to be calculated that would make such bioenergy more competitive for the benefit of the just energy transition.…”

Streamlined Social Footprint Analysis of the Nascent Bio-Pellet Sub-Sector in Zambia

“…The authors of that paper recommended the inclusion of sugarcane farmers, biorefinery project developers, end-users of the bio-chemicals and the bio-energy, equipment suppliers, investors and banks, policy makers and planners at the local, provincial, Residues from agriculture and forestry are exploitable in South Africa for energy generation (in addition, of course, to organic solid wastes from urban households and markets, which were dealt with in [17]). The authors of [18] focus on the multiple benefits of culling invasive alien plants (IAPs: acacia, eucalyptus, pine, among others)-combating water stress, adding to the acreage of pastureland and cropland (SDG 2) and producing fuel pellets for bio-energy, thus enabling rural electrification (SDG 6) and taking positive steps in the direction of finding solutions to the water crisis that has been plaguing the country for some time now (SDG 7). However, there is no reference made in that paper to a market for these pellets as cooking fuel in households.…”

“…However, there is no reference made in that paper to a market for these pellets as cooking fuel in households. They also refer to the supply-chain employment generation potential (a social 'good', SDG 8) for the region in the Eastern Cape State studied in the paper-for the removal of the IAPs, chipping/debarking, pelletization and transport and eventually for agriculture-if the land is restored to arable cropland [18]. The number of jobs this would generate (600, as reported in the paper) may seem insignificant, but in a country where unemployment and underemployment have been chronic challenges, every opportunity to generate employment and provide income to households is a desirable step in the right direction.…”

Effect of Variation of Mixture (Wood Gelam+Rice Husk) on Bio-Pellet on the Value of Temperature, Rate and Pressure of Combustion

“…Pellets are obtained from sawdust, shavings, and wood chips [3]. Apart from that, wood pellets can be mixed with rice straws, husks, leaf litter, twigs, or plant parts that are considered waste [4]. In addition, wood pellets can be an alternative energy source for electrical energy because they can save fossil fuels whose numbers are dwindling [5].…”