The biofuel development and utilisation strategy was up for discussion between officials at the Ministry of Water & Energy and stakeholders last week. Gosaye Mengiste, energy sector advisor at the Ministry, opened the discussion by underlining Ethiopia's potential for biofuel development. He emphasised the country's focus on alternative energy sources to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels and mitigate environmental challenges. Ethiopia has been blending five percent bioethanol with gasoline and successfully increased this blend to 10pc five years ago. Despite this progress, the limited supply of ethanol has hindered the full implementation of the blending target. The lack of a comprehensive national biomass policy and strategy has also posed challenges to biofuel development. However, countries like India, Brazil, and South Africa have demonstrated successful biofuel blending practices. The primary objectives of the new strategy include reducing fuel consumption and foreign exchange dependency, supporting rural development through livestock feed, facilitating transportation of agricultural products in rural areas, mitigating environmental pollution and indoor smoke emissions, and promoting clean cooking.

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