ABBBA – African Bioenergy and Biofuels Business Assessment
ABBBA is a three-year project initiated by Global Challenge, with principal funding from Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency for the period 20132015. ABBBA aims to bring about investments in the African biomass, bioenergy and forestry sector that meet high sustainability standards and contribute to local development. ABBBA covers market trends, acts as matchmaker and initiates collaborations between African actors on the one hand, and companies in the north with an interest to get involved in forestry and bioenergy-related projects in Africa. One important part concerns strengthening the sustainability profile of the various projects. In order for the European Union to reach its target of 20 % renewable energy by 2020, an increase of at least 50 % of biomass will be needed. Greater amounts of biomass can replace coal and oil in the primary energy production. For solid biomass as well as for biofuels, attention is increasingly being drawn to Sub-Saharan Africa. Investments in African agriculture and forestry are however far from uncomplicated. In many parts of the world, forests are being illegally cut down in areas with high biodiversity and conservation values, with little respect to the environment. Scientists as well as NGOs have warned for what may be the consequences of a ruthless scramble for biomass: unstable production methods, lack of respect for human rights, land grabbing and that the continent once again will fall victim of a resource curse. ABBBA aims to contribute to the development of a market for sustainable biomass and bioenergy – locally, regionally and globally. The investment must be sustainable, both from an environmental, economical and social perspective. Local communities should be involved from the start and user rights shall be considered as important as formal ownership. ABBBA’s portfolio contains projects about landfill gas in Ghana, conversion of safari vehicles to electric propulsion in Botswana, energy efficient stoves in Namibia, sugar beet ethanol in Kenya and several REDD projects in East Africa.
The ABBBA project has published the following reports:
Forestry for Development, ABBBA’s feasibility study, published in May 2012. The study focuses on the opportunities that investments in bioenergy and forestry bring about for the African continent.
Carbon Market Opportunities within the Forestry Sector, published in May 2013. The report gives an overview of the carbon market by giving an account of the opportunities and limitations that this market provides for forestry investments.
Biofuels – what if the Global South set the rules? – African farmers’ and producers’ views on sustainability requirements, published in April 2014. The report is based upon interviews with a wide range of African actors who share their views about the change from fossil to renewable fuels.
Contact information: Tove Strauss, (+46) 70 95 141 54, tove@straussab.se Mattias Goldmann, (+46) 70 30 900 45, mattiasgoldmann@gmail.com Hanna Begler, (+46) 70 421 00 11, hanna.begler@globalutmaning.se
Web: http://en.globalutmaning.se/?page_id=3602&preview=true
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