The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) report, titled "Novozymes: An integrated business model for providing clean cooking fuels in Sub-Saharan African cities," describes an agro-forestry business venture providing ethanol-based cooking fuel to urban households in Mozambique aiming to save up to 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year.
27 June 2012: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has issued a new report, titled “Novozymes: An integrated business model for providing clean cooking fuels in Sub-Saharan African cities,” which describes a a business partnership between Novozymes and CleanStar Mozambique to increase the use of ethanol to replace charcoal as a cooking fuel in urban households.
The venture aids smallholder farmers to implement an agro-forestry system to increase food production and produce feedstock for ethanol production, which is then sold to urban markets. The aim is to work with 500 smallholders in 2012 and reach 3,000 by the end of 2014. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions from shifting from charcoal to ethanol are expected to be 500,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, improve health due to improved indoor air quality, and the project also includes a reforestation component to plant 2.4 million trees. By 2014, the project will be expanded across Mozambique and will assess the feasibility of replication projects in other Sub-Saharan African countries.
The report further provides information on: the business drivers for the project; social, environmental, food, and energy objectives; the business model; partners of the project; policy recommendations; and financing mechanisms. [Novozymes: An integrated business model for providing clean cooking fuels in Sub-Saharan African cities (at bottom of page)]