Optimizing the Cooperated “Multi-Countries” Biodiesel Production and Consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa

Tito Francisco Ianda, Emerson Andrade Sales, Ademar Nogueira Nascimento and Antonio Domingos Padula
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Tito Francisco Ianda: UFBA Escola Politécnica da UFBA Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia Industrial, Universidade Federal da Bahia, PEI/UFBA. Rua Prof Aristídes Novis, 02-Federação, CEP 40210-610 Salvador-BA, Brazil
Emerson Andrade Sales: UFBA Escola Politécnica da UFBA Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia Industrial, Universidade Federal da Bahia, PEI/UFBA. Rua Prof Aristídes Novis, 02-Federação, CEP 40210-610 Salvador-BA, Brazil
Ademar Nogueira Nascimento: UFBA Escola Politécnica da UFBA Programa de Pós-graduação em Engenharia Industrial, Universidade Federal da Bahia, PEI/UFBA. Rua Prof Aristídes Novis, 02-Federação, CEP 40210-610 Salvador-BA, Brazil
Antonio Domingos Padula: UFRGS Escola de Administração, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, PPGA/UFRGS. Rua Washington Luis, 855, CEP 90010-460 Porto Alegre-RS, Brazil

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 18, 1-25

Abstract: Sub-Saharan African countries present chronic energy shortages and heavy reliance on oil imports for diesel. The small demand and high production costs in some countries have compromised the economic feasibility of the biodiesel industry in the region. Therefore, to overcome these limitations a model of “multi-countries” cooperated production and consumption of biodiesel was proposed for a group of seven neighboring countries. The model explored linear programming and simulations to the problem of minimizing biodiesel production costs considering different types of production and demand restrictions. The data processing was realized using the Solver and Linear Interactive Discrete Optimizer software (LINDO). The simulations and scenarios revealed that palm oil is the crop that minimize the production costs (US$0.82/L) and that, although jatropha was classified in the second place (US$1.05/L), it is the crop with the biggest job creation potential (5.0 times that of the palm oil seeds). These results reveal the presence of a trade-off in the strategy and the choice between different oilseeds: (a) to produce biodiesel from the crop with minimal costs (palm oil) or (b) to choose the one that has the biggest potential for job creation (jatropha). Considering the diesel price between US$0.60 and US$1.14/L at service stations in the region in 2016, both the biodiesel from palm oil and jatropha will need subsidies and fiscal incentives (tax reductions) to be competitive in the fuel market (diesel). The volume of biodiesel to supply the B10 demand in 2031 has the potential to reduce US$ 1.98 billion/year of the expenses on oil imports. It is worth observing that this decision-support model adds the “multi-countries” cooperation perspective as a contribution to the methodological and political approaches about biofuels production and consumption and can be exploited as a starting point for the formulation of policies, strategies, and investment decisions for the establishment of biodiesel production programs.

Keywords: biodiesel production; multi-countries cooperation; decision-support model; linear programming; scenario analysis; trade-off (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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