South African biofuels strategy aimed at reviving agriculture

In the coming months, the South African government is expected to publish its long-awaited bioenergy policy. The country is looking to develop biofuels to give new life to farming and see the sector through recent hard times, according to an official involved in drawing up the proposal.

Biofuels could restore thousands of lost jobs, Sizwe Mkhize, a Sustainable Resource Use and Management official in the department of agriculture, said, predicting that 100,000 jobs would be created over the long term if the biofuels industry took off.

"We believe it will create alternative markets for farmers (and) jobs in rural areas. We are very much positive about it," Mkhize, a chief director at the department, told Alternet. "The people that will be employed will be in almost everything you can think of - tractor operators, farm managers ... and marketing as well as administrators," he said.

South African agriculture is under pressure as it comes to grips with post-apartheid liberalisation and faces rising global competition. And new jobs are needed in a country with unemployment of around 25 percent.

The agriculture sector shrank by 12.9 percent in the third quarter of this year and 27.5 pct in the second quarter, according to latest gross domestic product (GDP) data:
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South Africa produces surpluses of crops used to make bio-ethanol - sugar and maize - and sees great scope for exports, Mkhize said.

It hopes to emulate the success of agricultural giants like Brazil, where many cars already run on bio-ethanol.

Plants have also sprung up in the United States and in Europe as countries look for cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional fuels.

In a sign that local businesses are also confident about the prospects for Africa's biggest economy, at least two firms have said they would invest over one billion rand (105 million / US$ 138 million) in total in setting up biofuel plants as early as next year.

Sasol, the world's biggest synthetic fuel maker from coal and South Africa's second biggest corporate by revenue, said earlier this month it would decide by year-end whether to build a biodiesel plant to produce about 125 million litres a year. Mkhize said policy-makers had agreed on a blend of between 8 and 10 percent and 3-5 percent for bioethanol and biodiesel with conventional fuel, respectively, in line with the pattern in developed countries.

That should, in the case of bioethanol, be compatible with current car models and ensure a smooth transition from mineral fuels.

Mkhize, who was closely involved in discussions on biofuels policy with other departments, said a document should be with the cabinet and available for public comment in the first half of next year.