Mozambique to boost biofuels output

Mozambique plans to boost biofuels production and introduce fuel blending next year in a bid to cut fuel imports, the energy minister said on June 9.

The government expects to save about $22 million in the first year on petrol and diesel imports from the current $500 million it spends annually.

"We have been approached by companies to enter into the production of biofuels, which means that as we increase production levels and the ratio of mixtures, the savings will also be high," Energy Minister Salvador Namburete told Reuters.

Mozambique plans to use jatropha, a biofuel crop, to boost the output.

UK-based Sun Biofuels said in March it plans to produce 2 million litres of fuel from its jatropha plantations in Mozambique's central Manica province by 2018.

Jatropha has been widely heralded as a wonder plant whose cultivation on non-arable land in Africa, Asia and Latin America would provide biodiesel and jobs in poor countries without using farmland needed to feed growing numbers of local people.

Reuters