Fuel substitution in sub-Saharan Africa

Deforestation and decline in agricultural productivity are major concerns over large parts of sub-Saharan Africa. One of the principal causes for both these phenomena is the export of woodfuels from rural agroecosystems to urban markets. This process is noteworthy because of the size of the trade. Wood fuels (fuelwood, charcoal, and agricultural residues) constitute the most important source of energy in these countries, varying from 60% to 95% of total energy consumption. In terms of the environmental impact of the fuelwood trade, solutions typically considered are the introduction of improved cookstoves, fuelwood plantations, and fuel substitution by conventional fuels. This article examines the structure of the fuelwood problem, reviews the successes and failures of past experiences, and focuses on the potential for fuel substitution as an option to reduce the urban demand for fuelwood.     

Mining development in sub-Saharan Africa

Mineral production from sub-Saharan Africa is an important contributor to the economy at the country, regional and global levels. As an example, in relation to global production, the region provides 40% of diamonds, 20% of bauxite and 20% of rutile. However, with two or three notable exceptions, the region's share of mineral production has been declining compared to that of other regions. Whereas in some cases ore reserve depletion has been a factor, the most important underlying cause has been the absence of an enabling environment to attract high-risk exploration investment and to support private sector mining development. There has also been insufficient re-investment by the region's state dominated mining enterprises. Overall, growth is unlikely to occur unless an enabling environment is created to secure and maintain the appropriate levels of investment. The World Bank has recently initiated an African Mining Policy Study with the objective of recognizing and then introducing required adjustment processes into the region's mining industry.     

The agricultural development of sub-Saharan Africa

A study prepared by FAO on the irrigation potential of sub-Saharan Africa is compared with the results of a similar study by the World Bank. The FAO study estimates that there are approximately 33 million hectares potentially suitable for irrigation. The World Bank study indicates that the actual number may be closer to 20 million. Reasons are offered to explain the difference in the conclusions of the two studies. This paper also examines the cost of developing irrigation in the sub-Sahara as well as the food-producing potential from irrigation. Costs are found to be in line with irrigation schemes of similar size in other regions. Nevertheless, because much of the irrigation potential is located in only six countries, irrigation does not appear to be a viable means of agricultural development in the sub-Sahara.     

Coal and peat in the sub-Saharan region of Africa

Increased energy demand as a result of growth in population, trends to sedentation and urbanization, and the desire for improvement in living standards, coupled with apparent climatic changes, are reducing fuelwood availability and contributing to deforestation and desertification in the sub-Saharan countries. In 14 of those countries, the transport, industrial, and electric power generation sectors are all dependent on imported petroleum products for their energy needs with resultant balance of trade and debt-servicing problems. Coal and peat are essentially unused and in some cases unknown in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they might comprise valuable alternative energy sources in some or all of the developing nations of the region. The eleven countries considered in this appraisal reportedly contain coal and peat. On the basis of regional geology, another five countries might also contain coal-bearing rocks. If the resource potential is adequate, coal and peat might be utilized in a variety of ways including substituting for fuelwood, generating electricity, supplying process heat for local industry and increasing agricultural productivity.     

Corporate social responsibility and petroleum development in sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Chad

This paper contributes to the debate on governance, transparency and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the case of Chad. Over the past decade, Chad has gained international standing as an oil-producer on the back of the World Bank-catalyzed Chad–Cameroon pipeline project, which aims to develop the country's oil-rich Doba region. The analysis begins by examining at greater length the challenges to implementing a CSR agenda in fragile states such as Chad, highlighting, specifically, the barriers to facilitating development in environments exhibiting Dutch Disease-like symptoms. It subsequently critiques CSR programs in resource-rich developing countries, questioning the role of corporate intervention in such settings. The paper concludes by examining how CSR has been “operationalized” in Chad itself, where to ensure that the finances generated from the oil project are properly managed, the Bank instituted a comprehensive revenue management plan.     

Reforming small-scale mining in sub-Saharan Africa: Political and ideological challenges to a Fair Trade gold initiative

In sub-Saharan Africa, artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) has caused a range of environmental, social and economic problems. Most of the donor support pledged to improve conditions in the sector to date, however, has failed to facilitate marked improvements, in large part because emphasis has been placed on technical interventions; at the same time, impoverished miners’ needs and concerns have been seriously overlooked. It is against this background that this paper critically examines the underpinnings and potential of “Fair Trade gold” as a solution to many of the problems plaguing the ASM sector and a mechanism for alleviating the hardships of its operators. Unlike the majority of ASM-support support measures implemented in the past, “Fair Trade gold” is entrenched in the discourse of “partnership” and “participation”. To ensure its effectiveness initiatives must be adapted according to the specificities of ASM.     

How have reforms fuelled the expansion of artisanal mining? Evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

This paper investigates whether and how World Bank mining sector reforms have fuelled the expansion of illegal artisanal mining activity in Sub-Saharan Africa. In doing so, the analysis examines three issues. First, the emerging correlation between reforms and poverty, mainly a result of increased unemployment caused by Structural Adjustment Programmes and concurrent privatisation of state-owned enterprises, is explored. Second, the possibility that reform of large-scale mining has decreased available land for peasant farming as well as legalised small-scale mining activity is discussed. Finally, the notion that the regularisation of informal mining activities has been an exceedingly bureaucratic procedure in Africa, therefore providing individuals with little incentive to operate within the legal domain, is examined. Faced with few employment prospects, a growing number of Africans are pursuing employment in the artisanal mining sector, a worrying prospect given its intimate association with environmental degradation and HIV/AIDS.     

Migrant land rights reception and 'clearing to claim' in sub-Saharan Africa: A deforestation example from southern Zambia

The relationship between migration and deforestation in the developing world continues to receive significant attention. However beyond direct population increase, the precise mechanisms that operate within the intersection of migrant/host land rights remain largely unexamined. Where migrants are provided with land and rights by the State and/or local communities, how such rights are perceived by the migrants is of primary importance in their interaction with land resources, and in aggregate it impacts the development opportunities and environmental repercussions of migration. The authors analyze the operative aspects of land rights reception (as opposed to provision) by migrant populations, and the relationship between this reception and deforestation. The article examines a case in Zambia to analyze how tenurial constructs, emerging from the way rights are perceived by migrants, lead to the continued clearing of areas much larger than needed for cultivation, even when the arrangement appears counter‐productive in terms of land rights provision and labour allocation. While valuable policy efforts have focused on providing resource rights to migrants, how such rights are received and the relationship of this reception to resource management needs greater policy attention.     

Enclave development and ‘offshore corporate social responsibility’: Implications for oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa

This paper critically reflects on the challenges of engaging, proactively, in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in oil-rich sub-Saharan Africa. Most of the region's oil production takes place in enclave-type environments offshore and in countries ruled by autocratic governments which generally exert minimal pressure on companies to embrace CSR. With companies having little sense of who to target in their local economic development policies and programs, there is always a possibility of ‘offshore CSR’ – recognized here as potentially-effective ideas for improving social welfare that linger within the enclave and never fully materialize – surfacing. The aim is to conceptualize and broaden understanding of the challenge of developing CSR programs in these settings, where there are no clear linkages to communities or local economies more generally.     

Environmental problems associated with livestock production in Tropical Africa

Besides contributing to a substantial proportion of the meat supply, livestock forms an integral part of the tropical African economy. Livestock is a frequent form of financial investment. Meat, being the most common protein source, is in short supply, therefore, the need to develop the livestock industry to meet demand is great. Due to the cost of concentrates and feeds, animals are often allowed to graze freely. However, the outcome of this free grazing is a serious environmental problem. Because of the ecological nature of the tropics a lot of diseases abound, some of which have been triggered by livestock breeding methods. Increased herding and agriculture have caused excessive removal of vegetation, lowering of the water-table and desiccation of the land, with a resultant gradual change in climate and vegetation.Suggestions are made on possible improvements to local livestock breeding processes through standardized management and, supplements of traditional husbandry with agricultural-feeds from industrial and agricultural-industrial by-products. Permanent settlement of nomadic herdsmen in properly watered improved pasture-land is recommended.     

Social and environmental injustices in solid waste management in sub-Saharan Africa: a study of Kinshasa,the Democratic Republic of Congo

This paper investigates social and environmental injustices in solid waste management in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The urban poor in most parts of Kinshasa bear a huge encumbrance of the solid waste burden and face multiple challenges associated with poor management of solid waste. This situation has resulted in poor and unhealthy living conditions for the majority of the urban residents. The problem of solid waste management in Kinshasa has further been compounded by rapid urbanisation which has occurred in the face of poor urban governance, civil conflict and weak institutional set-up. The combination of these challenges has resulted in increased overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, lack of water and an unprecedented accumulation of solid waste which have triggered a myriad of urban problems. The worst affected are the poor urban who reside in locations that receive little or no socio-economic services from the Kinshasa Municipal authority. Using secondary data collected through a desk study, this paper argues that the poor solid waste situation in Kinshasa is not only a health risk, but also presents issues of both social and environmental injustices. These issues are analysed within the context of evolving arguments that focus on the need to develop a pro-poor approach in solid waste management that may present an opportunity for achieving both social and environmental justice for the urban poor in Kinshasa.     

Toward energy and livelihoods security in Africa: Smallholder production and processing of bioenergy as a strategy

The past few years have seen a phenomenal rise in the production and consumption of biofuels and biodiesel at the global level. This development is of special significance to Africa, where about 550 million people (75% of the total population in Sub‐Saharan Africa) depend on traditional biomass (wood, charcoal, cow dung, etc.) and lack access to electricity or any kind of modern energy service. Derived from plants and agricultural crops, biofuels and biodiesel represent modern forms of bioenergy and more efficient use of biomass energy. Beyond efficiency, modern bioenergy offers tremendous opportunities to meet growing household energy demands, increase income, reduce poverty, and mitigate environmental degradation. In the African setting, energy and livelihoods security are indeed inseparable. This paper argues economic, social, and environmental benefits of modern bioenergy can be realized through a strategy that centres on smallholder production and processing schemes and pursuit of a livelihood approach to energy development. Such a scheme opens up new domestic markets, generates new cash incomes, improves social wellbeing, enhances new technology adoption, and lays the ground for rural economic transformation and sustainable land use. The paper concludes by underlining the vital importance of considering sound property rights and strategic planning of sustainable development as tools for sustainable energy and livelihoods security.     

Food and hunger in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is by far and away the most disadvantaged of the world's three main developing regions. Worse, its situation has mostly been deteriorating for much of the past several decades. Its agriculture is severely under-productive, and per capita food supplies have been steadily dwindling. Its environments and natural-resource base, characterised by water deficits, soil erosion, fuelwood shortages, rudimentary agro-practices, and grossly inadequate infrastructure, are generally unfavourable for sustainable agriculture. The population has expanded until it far exceeds carrying capacity, yet its growth rate is the highest in the world. The region also suffers from more disease than any other region. There is widespread and deepening poverty. As a result of these and other problems, and despite major food imports, two-thirds of the people are malnourished, one-quarter of whom endure outright hunger, even semi-starvation. Both these proportions appear set to keep on increasing both relatively and absolutely. Were these problems to persist with their decades-long trends, there could eventually arrive a stage when much larger numbers of people would succumb to terminal malnutrition, precipitating a human tragedy of unprecedented proportions. Fortunately, success stories demonstrate that solutions are available, on the part of both governments concerned and international agencies. Because of ignorance, or rather ignore-ance of the potential mortality disaster ahead, however, not nearly enough has been done to address the challenge with the energy and urgency to match its scale.     

Mining investment in Africa

Since 1985, there has been rapid growth in the presence of Australian exploration and mining companies in Africa. This paper sets out the reasons for the interest of those companies, now 20 in number, in various African mineral opportunities. Australian companies spent about US$16 million in 1992 on African exploration and evaluation, with over US$130 million spent on new mine development or expansion. The 20 Australian companies operate in 16 African countries, with two areas of focus, West Africa and Southern Africa. Using the responses to a survey sent to Australian companies operating in Africa in 1991, and to companies known to be interested in prospects there, the paper identifies and categorizes the policy and regulatory requirements needed by investors. Although a gloomy picture has often been painted of investment in Africa, Australian companies recognize that their risk taking, in the light of a declining investment climate in other mining areas, could promote a renaissance of world-scale mining in Africa.     

Sustainability appraisal of used vehicle trade policy options in sub-Saharan African countries

This paper examines the structure of contemporary vehicle mitigation commitments after lead gasoline phase out in sub-Sahara Africa. First, this paper reviews some of the leading domestic trade policy proposals (emission reduction actions) with regard to their expected technology impacts. Next, it assesses the options based on establishing benchmarks for measuring policy performance in curbing vehicle emissions simultaneously with core sustainable development priorities. Assessing these options identifies the key variables in designing mitigation commitments, offers criteria for evaluating different approaches and discusses the implications of the leading alternatives. This paper argues that a more pronounced dilemma of synergies exists between vehicle emissions reduction and core development concerns as the major players target emissions too narrowly. Finally, this paper sheds more light on strategies that could be employed simultaneously at the regional and domestic levels to enhance sustainable development as trade continues to grow and evolve.     

Mineral exploration in the USSR and the USA

This article compares non-fuel mineral exploration in the USSR and the USA. It examines the organization of exploration; recent trends in the level and distribution of expenditures; exploration productivity; and planning and decision making. It shows that although the sequence of exploration stages and activities is very similar in both countries, substantial differences overshadow these similarities, largely because of different economic and political systems and mineral endowments. However, the article concludes that we still have much to learn before making a full comparison of Soviet and US exploration.     

Strengthening Agricultural Research in Africa

Training programmes that involve agricultural researchers with farmers and extension field-workers have helped national agricultural research systems in sub-Saharan Africa to improve their communication with farmers. The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) has worked with national crop research institutes and agricultural extension agencies in building communication links with farmers. In a continent where population growth still outstrips food production increases, feedback from farmers on performance of high-yielding crop varieties and on new farming techniques is essential in boosting food production.     

Petroleum taxation in West Africa

The petroleum tax systems of nine West African countries are compared and analysed for their effectiveness in capturing the maximum amount of oil revenues. As a general rule, those countries which are major oil-exporting countries have the highest tax rates whereas those which are oil-importing countries have the lowest. The tax systems have changed over time, reflecting inter alia, changing national attitudes towards foreign investment, the price of oil and domestic needs. One conclusion reached is that many of the tax systems in place today are regressive in that the tax rates are fixed and are not adjusted to the profitability or non-profitability of the oil field .     

Ultra-deep Desulfurization of Liquid Hydrocarbon Fuels: Chemistry and Process

Abstract

Recently, ultra-deep desulfurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuels is becoming very important worldwide not only because of the heightened interest for cleaner air and thus increasingly stringent environmental regulations for fuel sulfur content, but also because of the great need for making ultra-low-sulfur fuels used in hydrocarbon fuel process for fuel cell applications. This article is a selective review on chemistry and process concerning the ultra-deep desulfurization of liquid hydrocarbon fuels. The principles and problems for the existing hydrodesulfurization processes and the challenges, concepts, advantages, and disadvantages of various new approaches are discussed, including (1) sulfur compounds in liquid hydrocarbon fuels; (2) Reactivity and mechanistic aspect of various sulfur compounds; (3) Challenges in ultra-deep desulfurization processes; (4) Approaches to ultra-deep desulfurization process.