Ethanol as a household fuel in Madagascar
Practical Action
Ethanol as a household fuel
Ethanol as a fuel has been implemented on a large-scale in several countries, although Brazil is
so far the only developing country to have done so. The development of ethanol as a national
energy supply in Brazil has reduced oil imports, improved energy security and created an
estimated 700,000 jobs (APEC, 2010). However, a centralised system primarily benefits the
transport sector, and is generally not suited to a rural supply scenario with limited transport
access. Additionally, economic benefits tend not to reach lower income groups in a centralised
system.
Whilst small- and micro-scale production of ethanol is well documented in several developed
countries such as the USA, there is limited, and only recent, formal international experience of its
use as a commercial household fuel in development scenarios. In Africa, the ethanol base is less
well developed, but several countries are beginning to increase production, and there are a few
examples of ethanol stoves being used in energy delivery programmes.
Sudan currently produces roughly 60 million litres of ethanol per year. It exports 60% of
this to Europe, but the remainder is successfully supporting a domestic household fuel
industry.
Ethiopia is currently providing refuge for people displaced by fighting in Somalia; a
project implemented by the Gaia Association supplied ethanol stoves to nearly 1800
households in the Kebribeyah refugee camp, reducing the time the families spend
collecting firewood and improving conditions within shelters. Although the refugees didn’t
pay for the stoves or ethanol, the model has highlighted the potential for widespread
uptake (Ashden, 2008).
In both Malawi and Ethiopia, the Governments are producing ethanol from molasses, and
recognising the large markets for household energy. Ethiopia already has a domestic
market of 100 million litres a year, whilst Malawi has been an early adopter of the fuel
and produces approximately 18 million litres per year. Most of the current production in
exported to East African countries, although UNDP and GTZ backed projects are helping
to commercialise ethanol stoves to utilise the surplus.
Project
The project described in this brief was commissioned to analyse the cost efficiency and economic
viability of an ethanol programme at reducing disease and protecting the forests in Madagascar. It
identified three key areas:
1) Health benefits
2) Financial and economic assessment
3) African lessons for scaling-up a program of support for ethanol as a household fuel
Project partners
The project was conducted under the following management structure:
Project Manager
Practical Action
Consulting
Project Funding
World Bank
Consultant
(Economics)
S. Khennas
Consultants (Stove
Experts)
E. Bates & J. Rouse
Tany Meva
Local Partner
(Malagasy NGO)
Emissions
Monitoring
Berkley Air
Figure 1: Structure of project partners.
Health Analysis
UoL/WHO
Ethanol Expert
Gaia Associates
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