Local lignocellulosic biofuel and biochar co-production in Sub-Saharan Africa: The role of feedstock provision in economic viability

Bioenergy production in developing countries remains a contentious topic. We study feedstock provision costs in the context of a hybrid thermochemical-biochemical (HTB) lignocellulosic conversion process to co-produce ethanol and biochar in rural Sub-Saharan Africa. Using household-level and market data from Kenya, we examine the availability and cost of purchasing agricultural residues from smallholder farmers and transporting residues to a local-scale (10–20 Mg dry biomass per hour) HTB biofuel-biochar plant with integrated syngas-fermentation for ethanol production. We demonstrate that these costs depend significantly on regionally-specific agroecological and socio-economic conditions, such as crop yields, cropland density, and the value of crop residues to farmers. Only under the best-case scenario do we find that this integrated biofuel-biochar plant with 15 Mg of feedstock per hour capacity has positive net present value.