How SavSmart is Finding an Alternative to Charcoal to Power Zambia’s Off-Grid Population

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With over two-thirds of the population living off-grid in Zambia, most of their energy comes from charcoal and with charcoal being produced by heating wood, you need trees.

This means that Zambia faces some big challenges in terms of deforestation with 300,000 hectares of forest being cleared each year to produce charcoal. Zambia’s deforestation is the highest in the world.

The country also faces issues with climate change reducing the amount of usable land and affecting local wildlife. Combine this with one of the lowest GDPs per capita in all of Africa and a heavy reliance on subsistence farming and this spells disaster. In case you didn’t know, subsistence farming is when farmers grow crops to meet their own needs primarily.

Zambia has to import fossil fuels and it also has very few options currently when it comes to meeting the 5% green fuel targets set by SADC and Paris Accord.

Fortunately, there’s a plant from Asia that SavSmart Biomass plans to use to create a whole heap of green energy and investors like Michael Silver and Tor Anders Petterøe have been backing the project since its foundation.

The Grass to Combat Deforestation in Zambia

The plant is Miscanthus Giganteus, a large perennial grass that grows up to nearly 4 metres in height. It’s commercially used in Europe to provide clean energy and heat and SavSmart Biomass is the company that’s going to use it to make green energy in northeast Zambia.

The grass takes between 2 and 3 years to reach its full production potential and can be harvested in late autumn with new shoots appearing in the spring.

Another advantage of this grass is that it can be harvested using fairly standard farming equipment, which is perfect in developing regions and subsistence farming communities.

It’s also incredibly easy to grow, requires little to no maintenance, and doesn’t require fertilisers or pesticides after the end of the second year. It’s one of the fastest growing and highest yield per hectare agricultural biomass fuel feedstocks out there.

With 5km2 of Miscanthus, you can produce enough electricity to power 9,000 homes for a full year and 1 tonne of the stuff contains as much energy as half a tonne of coal.

Wildlife also loves the plant as it’s imposing and provides cover for insects and mammals. Places where Miscanthus is grown tend to have more butterflies and fewer pests. Research is still ongoing in terms of its effects on birds, but current research suggests that bird populations increase in its presence.

Miscanthus can also replenish the soil while allowing the land to recover from overfarming maize and deforestation from charcoal production.

The initial investment to grow the plant will be expensive, but as the plant is perennial with minimal maintenance, the costs once it’s established are minimal and the crop can last for over a quarter a century!

SavSmart Biomass is working with leading US universities and has its seedless hybrid variety of Miscanthus for which it’s applying for a Zambian patent. Building a nursery for this plant and providing rhizomes will be an early part of the project.

Who’s Involved?

In addition to foundation investors like Silver and Petterøe, SavSmart Biomass will be working with Big Grass Biomass Fuels Limited, Agrismart, Biodiversity & Ecosystem Futures (BEF), and the University of Zambia (UNZA).

SavSmart Biomass also has an agreement with Technotherm to build a refinery that produces synthetic diesel from a plantation.

The SavSmart Biomass board includes several experts in the field including the CEO of Big Grass Investments Limited, Emil van Wyk, Professor James Simon of Rutgers University, and sustainable finance, carbon markets, and technology expert Mike Davies.

Where Will the Plant Be Used?

SavSmart Biomass will be growing Miscanthus Giganteus in Zambia’s Muchinga Province in northern Zambia near Malawi and Tanzania. The Zambian Government has already approved this type of land use and the land used is suitable for the plant.

Similarly, the land to be used for the project won’t result in any local populations being displaced as populations in the area are already very small. The area’s also great for the plant as the subtropical climate means Miscanthus can be grown without needing mechanical irrigation.

The plantation will also be near the highway joining Zambia and Tanzania, which is also being upgraded by the Zambian government.

Working with Local Farmers

SavSmart Biomass will also work with local subsistence farmers in the Muchinga Province to generate income for the farmers and pay them double what they earn for maize production without having to worry about input costs.

The benefits of this scheme are twofold as it’s also an alternative income to charcoal production, which the whole project is trying to reduce and replace. The area’s main and only source of income comes from the production of charcoal, which is one of the causes of deforestation across Zambia.

They estimate that 750 households will benefit for every 1,000 hectares from the scheme and the nursery will employ 25 people permanently per 1,000 as well as 300 daily contractors. In total, there’ll be around 265 permanent employees, 300 contractors, and over 2,000 households benefiting from the scheme.

How Long Will it Take?

The current timeline for the project runs up to the second half of 2023 and has been going since the end of 2021.

The project plans to fully set up nurseries by the middle of 2022 and plant rhizomes across 200 hectares in the third quarter of 2022.

By Q4 2022, the IPO seeks to raise $20m, plant more rhizomes, and cultivate 200 hectares while scaling up to 1300 hectares.

The cuttings from the plants will be raised in the first quarter of 2023 with preparation for the harvest beginning in Q2 2023.

At almost every stage, the capacity for the project will be increased and more land prepared for the project.

All of this will help replace fossil fuels with ethically-produced and clean alternatives while providing income and benefits to local communities.