Namibia to use invasive shrubs for bioenergy, to meet all power needs

An interesting large-scale bioenergy project aimed at reducing extreme rural poverty and environmental degradation is underway in Namibia. Vast tracts of the country's scarce farmland have become uncultivable because of encroachment by hardy shrubs and trees, generically known as 'invader bush'. Studies indicate that not less than 26 million hectares of agricultural land are infested, which is preventing the growth of useful grass species and which results in the compaction of soils in the bush encroached areas. The disastrous plague has reduced the land's carrying capacity resulting in reduced cattle numbers over the years and leading to economic losses of N$700 million (€72/US$96.1 million) every year. Small farmers suffer under the plague which fuels rural poverty (even though agriculture contributes less than 5% to Namibia's GDP, over 70% of the country's population is dependent on the sector).

Previous efforts to find ways of clearing the invader bush, such as massive herbicide spraying or burning campaigns, are hardly sustainable, cost-effective or environmentally friendly. Burning would result in large amounts of greenhouse gas emissions, whereas herbicides kill the ecosystem alltogether. Moreover, estimates show that it would cost up to N$5.2 billion (€534/US$714 million) to combat the infestation with these techniques. For a country like Namibia, this is a tall order. Individual, small farmers whose land is invaded say it is cheaper to buy a new farm than to try to eradicate the hardy bushes. (See the Bush Encroachment Research, Monitoring and Management project of the Ministry of the Environment).

Now bioenergy is coming to the rescue. Research shows that the woody shrubs make for an excellent solid biofuel that can be used in decentralised biomass power plants for the production of electricity. The potential is large: if a fraction (6%) of the infested areas were to be harvested, Namibia could meet all its domestic electricy needs. Instead of trying to eradicate the plants by aggressive herbicides or by burning them without recuperating the energy they contain, they are simply converted 'conceptually' into a short-rotation energy crop that can be harvested sustainably and that delivers climate-neutral, clean and renewable energy.

If all goes according to plan the 'bush-to-power' project will kick off in June of this year. The project - Combating Bush Encroachment for Namibia's Development (C-Bend) - is a collaborative effort of three organizations, namely, the Desert Research Foundation Namibia (DRFN), Namibia Agricultural Union and Namibia National Farmers' Union. Plans are for it to be implemented between 2007 and 2008, as part of the EU-funded Rural Poverty Reduction Programme, which is expected to approve financing the project.

The project will be located in one of the areas with a high density of invader bush around the north-central areas of Tsumeb, Otavi and Grootfontein. Other conditions of the project site will be the proximity of the areas to electricity, where the generated power can be fed into the national grid and the cooperation of farmers around those areas to have their farms used.

C-Bend's fact sheet says that Namibia's bush-to-electricity energy potential in bush-infested areas lies in using available electricity-generating technologies and applying ecological management principles that can generate between 0.5 and 2.5 MWh per hectares per year. At a sustainable yield of 2 MWh per hectare, some 1.5 million hectares of bush harvested each year would ensure that Namibia's entire annual electricity consumption of 3000 GWh is generated.

Studies conducted in 2000 assessed both large-scale (10-30 MW) and small-scale (0.2 - 0.5 MW) biomass technologies, and although both were found to be technically feasible, the economic feasibility was undermined because of cheaper electricity imports from South Africa. But the current situation of lack of generation capacity, the energy crisis in South Africa, high fossil fuel prices and energy security as well as technology developments present new opportunities for the introduction of small-scale decentralised wood gasification technologies:
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A 0.5MW wood gasification plant costs over N$4 million and produces 3 500 MWh per hectare and taking into account sales of N$0.3 per KWh, annual revenues from the sale of electricity would yield some N$1 million. This would also result in an increased carrying capacity of debushed land and also yield additional income.

At a meeting on bioenergy recently, DRFN's Detlof von Oertzen said the project would also address productivity issues, job creation and improved livelihoods.

"Poverty statistics are shocking. We face an uncertain energy future while we have a very high unemployment rate," he said, adding that the project gave the country a unique opportunity to address local problems with local solutions. "This is a first tiny step to use local resources in finding solutions," he added.

He said the project has the endorsement of the country's power utility, Nampower, the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, the Namibia Women's Association and the regional councils.

C-Bend aims at assessing the actual economics and developing the best management practices for rural bush-to-energy, which paves the way for the introduction of such technologies in rural communities and areas.

Apart from generating electricity, invader bush is a resource from which animal fed, charcoal products, chipboards and bush blocks can be produced.

Although there are other methods to limit bush encroachment such as herbicides, use of browsers, fire, stumping or felling and bulldozing among others, many of these methods have been found to be so costly that farmers say it is cheaper to buy another farm than to debush.

The objective of the project is to get a bush-to-electricity enterprise up and running and through the enterprise hopefully change the perception that invader bush is a nuisance. The bush will be harvested sustainably as a resource in a way that it can be re-harvested in future.

More information:
Ministry of Environment and Tourism: Bush Encroachment - Report on Phase 1 of the Bush Encroachment Research, Monitoring and Management Project.
The Namibian (via AllAfrica): Namibia: N$5.2 Billion Needed for Bush Clearing - March 12, 2007.
New Era (Windhoek) (via AllAfrica): There's Power in the Bush - April 2, 2007.