Can substitution of imported gasoline by locally produced molasses ethanol in Ethiopia be sustainable? An eco-efficiency assessment

Elias W. Gabisa and Shabbir H. Gheewala

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2020, vol. 123, issue C

Abstract: Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing countries in the world with a 10.9% GDP growth rate in 2017. This high growth cannot be sustained without the deployment of modern energy in its different forms. To this end, the government is approaching the production of different types of modern and renewable energy. Among the renewable energy, molasses ethanol is the one given attention. This piece of research is aimed at evaluating the sustainability of molasses ethanol production and consumption considering gasoline substitution potential and eco-efficiency. The results show that achieving a 10% molasses-based ethanol blend with gasoline (E10) throughout the country is difficult even with production at full capacity of the existing factories. To achieve E10, 76.2 million liter annual production of ethanol is required, while the current production potential is only 20 million liter. The ambitious government plan of E15 by 2020 can only be achieved by 2025 if all the plants under construction are operational by 2025 and can operate at full capacity. If the plan is achieved, 31.85, 74.5 and 159 million USD can be saved yearly from the E10, E15 and E20 mandates, respectively. Using the byproducts as much as possible within the ethanol-processing framework significantly increases the eco-efficiency (40%) of the products.

Keywords: Ethiopia; Ethanol; Eco-efficiency; Gasoline; Import substitution; Sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032120300666
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:rensus:v:123:y:2020:i:c:s1364032120300666

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/600126/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 600126/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.rser.2020.109770

Access Statistics for this article

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews is currently edited by L. Kazmerski

More articles in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().