Toward a sustainable bioeconomy in West Africa: A focus on biorefining

Abstract

Considering its size and expanding population, Africa needs to play a more active role in preventing global warming. The economy of most West African countries is driven by agriculture and the export of processed wood resulting in the generation of tons of wood and agricultural waste. The waste is usually disposed of by burning, which releases harmful greenhouse gases (GHGs) into the environment. Wood and agricultural wastes are valuable biomass feedstocks for second‐generation biofuels and chemicals. The availability of diverse feedstocks makes the West African sub‐region suitable for setting up biorefineries. However, the limiting factors for establishing biorefineries such as appropriate technology, infrastructure and forward‐looking policies have to be addressed. The currently high cost of biofuel production and competitive crude oil prices also make it seem unfeasible for West African countries and other developing economies to invest in this industry. Therefore, we present an idea for developing a multipurpose modular biorefinery model to meet the energy needs of the region with an added advantage of creating new markets and jobs. We also discuss what new energy policies should be focused on in order to fast‐track the development of the bioenergy sector. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Sustainability Multidimensional Optimization of Multiproduct Biorefineries: The Case Study in a Sub-Saharan African Country

“…According to, 8 knowledge about modular biorefineries is still incipient in West Africa. Thus, the data available for dimensioning the parameters of techno-economic, environ-mental, and social evaluation are very limited in the scientific literature.…”

“…Multiproduct biorefineries consist of the production of different products from processing one or more types of biomass. 8 The scientific literature on biorefineries have focused on producing liquid and gaseous biofuels. 4 However, investment in biofuel-based biorefineries is risky due to lower oil prices.…”

“…4 However, investment in biofuel-based biorefineries is risky due to lower oil prices. 8 In addition, the biomasses considered in several biorefinery studies come from large-scale agricultural production, such as the soy-and palm-based agro-industrial complex, which generates income concentration and land use competition to produce food and chemicals. 4 The flexibility for processing biomass into different products supports biobased industry competitiveness.…”

“…The scientific literature on biorefineries have focused on producing liquid and gaseous biofuels . However, investment in biofuel-based biorefineries is risky due to lower oil prices . In addition, the biomasses considered in several biorefinery studies come from large-scale agricultural production, such as the soy- and palm-based agro-industrial complex, which generates income concentration and land use competition to produce food and chemicals…”

Forest-based bioeconomy in sub-Saharan Africa: Looking at benefits and burdens from a social sustainability standpoint

“…Although biomass refinery is still practiced on a limited scale, a modular biorefinery model has been proposed for West Africa, based on the availability of feedstock in the region, in order to produce bioethanol, biopharmaceuticals and other biochemicals, and explore new market avenues (Fletcher et al 2017). Cascading use of cassava biomass -a versatile woody shrub imported in Africa in the 1600's -converted into staple crop, has also been proposed as a promising bioeconomy model, with potential production of bio-products such as biogas, biofuel, solvents, pharmaceuticals and bioplastics (Poku et al 2018).…”