The Ministry of Economy and Finance commissioned a study by Green Light that preliminarily attested to the existence of agricultural capacity in Portugal to produce biofuel for domestic consumption that would justify a reduction in imports.

The work was carried out as part of the Economic Acceleration Package (EAP) measures that recommend blending locally produced biofuels (biodiesel and bioethanol) into imported liquid fuels for domestic consumption.

The results of the study were presented last week in Maputo and highlighted various crops produced in the country, such as cassava, cashew, corn, sweet potato, sugar cane and millet for bioethanol production, and cotton, coconut, palm and castor bean for biodiesel production.

"In terms of biofuel production costs, the study found that sugarcane would require between 1.42 and 1.04 USD per liter, while cassava would cost between 1.76 and 1.21 dollars per liter. To effectively implement the obligation to blend biofuels into liquid fuels, the country must have a biofuel production strategy, transportation infrastructure, biofuel logistics at distribution terminals and adaptation of fuel pumps and vehicles," said a representative of Green Light, Víctor Matavel.

The biggest obstacle is the price of biofuel, which is higher than that of imported liquid fuels, which could reduce the usefulness of the study.

There have been a number of studies into the potential for biofuel production in Mozambique, but none of them have proved viable.

The final study, which is still being carried out and has yet to be presented to the public, is funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. (Source: AIM)