About Alcohol Fuels
Clean and safe, alcohol fuels are a sustainable alternative to non-renewable fuels.
The Niger delta flares enough to fulfill the combined annual natural gas needs of Germany and France (World Bank). This natural gas could be converted into enough methanol to provide cooking fuel for every home in Africa.
The right stove can make it usable.
Ethanol: an ideal fuel for households
Ethanol is made from three types of raw materials:
• Sugar-based materials such as molasses, sugar beet, or sweet sorghum
• Starches such as cassava (manioc), potatoes, and maize
• Cellulose-based materials like wood, grasses, and agricultural residues.
Methanol: a simple, versatile fuel for household cooking
Methanol comes from carbonaceous materials—wood, bagasse (a waste from sugar processing), grasses, agricultural wastes etc. Currently, most methanol is made from natural gas.
These fuels can be made from recycled wastes
Millions of tons of waste molasses are dumped into rivers every year, de-oxygenating them and destroying living organisms. This waste can instead be used for ethanol.
Annually, around 137 billion cubic meters of gas is flared globally; Nigeria alone emits 20 billion cubic meters, producing almost 45% of all Africa's greenhouse gas emissions. This could create enough methanol for every household to cook cleanly throughout Africa.
Sustainable local markets for the investor
This technology is new, and only a few thousand households now use alcohol fuels and stoves, while millions cook over polluting three-stone fires. For the investor, this provides an ideal market as alcohol fuels are made cheaply and efficiently. Unlike the transport-sector export markets, this steady, growing market is unaffected by global price trends, and free from major transport costs. Locally, a micro-distillery produces sufficient ethanol for communities to become self-reliant in generating their own cooking fuel.