The use of sweet sorghum as a renewable energy source (feedstock) to produce ethanol for mixing with petrol at 10% ratio is a novel scientific idea initiated and being implemented by the Global Biofuels Limited, Lagos, Nigeria, as an agro-industrial project in the country.

With headquarters in Lagos and pioneer operations in the Akoko NW Local Government Area of Ondo State, the project has two stages: feasibility and project stages. In the feasibility stage, seed money was sourced, location for the project was identified and selected based on agro-ecological appropriateness, front end engineering was completed and report developed and published. In the project stage, there are two major areas of Feedstock (Sweet Sorghum) Production, the Factory/Refinery and Life Camp developments, with series of overlapping phases.

Significant progress has been made in the Feedstock production area since late 2007 and early 2008. Adequate farming lands (between 15,000 – 30,000ha) have been sourced from farm family owners and state governments of Ondo and Ekiti in their drier southern Guinea Savanna zones. Work Plans have been concluded on phasing of the farming aspects, in the 1st 18 months (January 2008 - June/July 2009); starting this March/April 2008, for land clearing/stumping and leveling followed by ploughing and planting of the first 30ha. The clearing and planting activities will be scaled up to next 300ha by second growing season of 2008 in July, and 3000ha by first growing season of 2009 in March/April. Gradual scaling up for feedstock production up to 30,000ha follows in next growing seasons. All the sweet sorghum plantings will be staggered to take care of continuous 20ha/day harvesting and delivery of sweet sorghum stalk required by the factory for producing at 60,000litres/day of Ethanol. The first bottle of Ethanol is expected to be produced from the harvests of the 3000ha starting in June/July 2009!! The plantings and harvests from the 30ha and 300ha in 2008 are for observations, local agronomic/juice/sugar content data collections/analyses and experience gathering. Varieties of sweet sorghum used as feedstock will come from PRAJ Industries, India and our own IAR/ABU Samaru, Zaria Nigeria. All clearing machines, tractors and implements for ploughing and planting are to be rented initially (for the 1st 30ha) while plans are on to purchase the projects equipments subsequently.
Meanwhile, building plans and engineering works for the Refinery and Life Camp starts in January 2009.

The refinery will have three sections: the feedstock crushing factory to produce the sugary juice, the fermentation and refining sections that converts the sugar into ethanol, and co-generation plant that utilizes the bagasse (by-product from the crushed sweet sorghum stalks) to fuel the furnaces for production of electrical energy usable by the communities in the project, surrounding areas/villages and state governments, and waste effluent for fertilizer usable in the production farm.

Our Expected Impacts from the Biofuel Project include:

• employment of about 8000 people in each participating state

• continuous production of sweet sorghum – based – ethanol in the country; a novel approach in action in Nigeria!

• contribute to reduction in the quantity of petrol being imported by using the Nigeria-made renewable sweet sorghum based ethanol for blending

• enhance Nigeria’s trade in Carbon Credit by reducing its gaseous CO2 emissions from using blended petrol and ethanol

• contribute to Nigeria’s achievement of the E10 requirement of UN Kyoto Agreement by 2010

• improved and better living conditions of peoples, households and communities in and around the project areas by provision of electricity power and cash income

• successful public-private partnerships in Nigeria’s agro-industrial development

• influencing Nigeria’s entrepreneurs in the development of novel ideas and their successful implementation through such wide and diverse collaborations initiated by Global Biofuels Ltd.

• Expansion into 6 or 7 surrounding states of Ekiti, Osun, Oyo, Kwara, Kogi, Niger and Kaduna.Developed and Presented by:
  Professor A. Babatunde Obilana Head/Coordinator (Feedstock Production Group)
  Global Biofuels Ltd
  Tel: +234-8033010966
  Email: babaobilana@yahoo.com
  abobilana@globalbiofuelsltd.co.

Feburary 25, 2008.