Gaia Lessons and Modifications

of Ethanol Production:
Small-scale vs. Large-scale Approach

Firehiwot Mengesha
Project Gaia, Inc.
ETHOS Conference
January 28th - 30th, 2011
 Introduction

y I am a BSc. in Chemical Engineering from Addis Ababa

University and am completing a Masters Degree at San Jose
State University that is focused on the science of ethanol
fermentation and distillation. I have worked in Project Gaia
since 2004, not only in Ethiopia but also Malawi and
Madagascar. I am interested in bringing not just better
stoves but also cleaner fuels to Africa. Africans are like
everybody else—they want modern forms of energy.
y Micro distilleries are appropriate technology that can be
affordable to communities and that can produce ethanol
very cheaply, so that it is affordable for anybody who buys
fuel. Most Africans today buy their fuel. Charcoal and
wood are becoming more and more expensive to buy,
especially in our rapidly growing cities.
 Presentation Outline

y Introduction: Organization and Technology

y Progress Reports by Country
{ Ethiopia
{ Brazil

{ Nigeria

{ Madagascar

{ Haiti

y Modifications to Our Approach

y Advantages of the micro-distillery
y Conclusion
 Project Gaia
Project Gaia:
y International NGO and non-profit org.
y Gaia Association in Ethiopia is indigenous
partner.
y We are promoting an “energy revolution”—
alcohol fuels for the developing world.
y We consider ourselves part of global clean-
cooking fuels initiative.
y Ethanol displaces charcoal, wood, dung and
other low-grade biomass fuels. Our studies
show how eager people are to move up.
y Mitigate emissions, reduce health risks and
deforestation associated with woodfuels
y Uses culturally-sensitive approach to provide
household energy appliance that fit
community needs
y Targets communities that are energy poor
 Introduction to the Technology

Ethanol can be made sustainably from:

• Sugary materials such as sugarcane, sweet
sorghum, sugar beets, even mesquite pods.
• Starches such as cassava (manioc or yuca),
potatoes, maize, even palms (Raffia, sago).
• Cellulose materials like wood, grasses, and
agricultural residues (coming soon!).
• Food wastes from urban centers, such as
fruit and vegetable waste from the market,
The CleanCook Stove
processing wastes, from coffee or canning.
 Gaia Worldwide
Projects and studies: Ethiopia, South Africa, Malawi, Madagascar, Nigeria and
Brazil. Coming soon: Kenya, Haiti, Senegal, Mozambique.
 Progress Report: Ethiopia

y Gaia Association established 2004 as a Ethiopian NGO

y Gaia Association project locations: Addis Ababa, rural areas,
Kebribeyah, Awbere and Sheder Refugee Camps in eastern Ethiopia
y Project partners: USEPA, ARRA,UNHCR, World Bank BEIA, Federal
EPA and private donors
y Pilot studies and stove scale-ups in rural and urban areas. Surveys,
HH energy reports, business plans and monitoring & evaluation.
y Indoor Air Pollution studies. Carbon finance planning.
y Local stove manufacturing in Addis Ababa
 Ethiopia Continued

•Metahara: A new Distillery owned by the Ethiopian Government

commissioned in 2009. Most advanced in Africa. It will produce 12
million liters annually
•Fuel blending for transportation (currently at a 5%—will move to 10%
blend). Metahara has also agreed to provide ethanol for the stove market
in Addis.
 Progress Report: Brazil

• 2007 Pilot studies in urban and rural areas in

Minas Gerais State to assess stove reception and
use
•CleanCook was easy to use. Most preferred it
over their LPG stove because it was safer and
they could buy fuel daily in small quantities,
rather than in expensive, heavy pressure
bottles—easier for low-income families.
•Families saved an average 30 minutes of cooking
each day.
•Household preferred ethanol to sooty, polluting
fuels such as fuelwood.
•Next step: Conduct market study
to see potential consumer base
 Progress Report: Nigeria

•Two methanol-based pilot studies in 2003 and 2007

•Pilot study in 150 randomly selected homes

Working with NEPAD Pan-Africa Cassava Initiative and private

investors to promote ethanol in micro distilleries as well as
methanol for cooking.
 Nigeria – continued

y Held seminar with Blume Distillation (micro

distilleries) in November in Atlanta, attended by
Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) which
is spearheading biofuels in Nigeria.
Kerosene is costly in Nigeria.
It is actually imported, since no
petroleum fuels are refined in
Nigeria at this time. NNPC
hopes that ethanol from
cassava can become a source of
affordable cooking fuel.
 Progress Report: Madagascar

World-Bank study to compare ethanol stoves with solid

fuel stoves. We assessed impacts on fuel use, time,
IAP, personal exposure, health outcomes.

y Study consortium composed of Practical Action

Consulting, Berkeley Air Monitoring, University of
Liverpool, Ecoconsult, Project Gaia and Tany Meva.

y Results show that on average women saved 2.5 hrs per

day using the CleanCook. Of all stoves in the study
(including improved solid fuel stoves), only the
CleanCook could meet WHO emissions standards and
deliver significant improvements in Indoor Air Quality.
 Madagascar: Overview of study design

AMBOSITRA N=132 N=129

INT Control Control

Baseline  Awareness Awareness

(N=154)
Improved charcoal Improved charcoal

Ethanol Ethanol

VATOMANDRY N=160 N=153

INT Control Control

Awareness Awareness
Baseline
(N=184) Improved charcoal Improved charcoal

Improved wood Improved wood
Ethanol Ethanol
Study composed of stoves + fuels + awareness

Continue using:
• Traditional charcoal
• Traditional wood

Awareness only Improved charcoal

Improved wood Ethanol (CleanCook)
 Ambositra 24‐hr PM2.5
2.4

Baseline
2.2

Rainy season sample

2
24-hr Avg. Kitchen PM2.5 Concentration (mg/m3)
1.8

Dry season sample

.6 .8 1 1.2 1.4
.4
.2
0 1.6

1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3
Ethanol Imp. Charcoal Awar. Raising Only Control
Ambositra – predicted 24‐hr PM2.5 (adults)
Adult PM
Ambositra WHO 24‐hour 
PM2.5  AQGs
.8
.6

WHO IT‐1 = 75 
.4

µg/m3 PM2.5 
(+15% long‐
term mortality)
.2
0

control awareness imp. charcoal ethanol

WHO AQG = 25 
baseline round2
µg/m3 PM2.5
round3
Ambositra – predicted 24‐hr PM2.5  (child)
Child PM
Ambositra
.8
.6
.4
.2
0

control awareness imp. charcoal ethanol

baseline round2
round3
 Madagascar

y A conclusion to be drawn from the Madagascar

study, as well as other studies, is that not only
improved stoves but also clean fuels—and the stoves
in which to combust them—must be developed and
disseminated in order to achieve the objectives first
put forth at the WSSD in Johannesburg in 2002.
y The simple alcohols are in a class only with LPG, but
the alcohols, particularly ethanol, can be locally
made on a community scale, with very little
investment.
Small scale Ethanol Production in Madagascar

Small scale ethanol plant with pieces and plumbing supplies 
under construction at Tany Meva’s “Ethanol Fair” in 
Antananarivo.   
Progress Report: Haiti

y Aim: to supply displaced families with

CleanCook stoves a.s.a.p. using ethanol
from Brazil. Promote local production of
ethanol fuel in the mid-term
y We have forged partnerships with NGOs,
private sector and Haitian Diaspora.
y We have identified pilot study sites in
communities displaced by the earthquake.
y On the ground logistics secured
y 1,300 CleanCook stoves ordered, awaiting
to be shipped
y Secured ready-to-build site 10km from
Port-au-Prince for installation of micro-
distillery and local ethanol supply chain.
 Haiti Ethanol Production Potential

In 1983 Haiti
fed itself and
harvested
78,000 Ha of
sugarcane.
Today it
cannot feed
itself and
harvests less
than 17,000 Ha
of cane. The
food vs. fuel
debate is not
about local
resources but
global markets.
If Haitian farmers can thrive again, Haiti will thrive. Producing for a local stove fuel
market will be good for farmers, who will earn a living and be able to plant next year.
Large Scale & Micro Distilleries COMPARED
Efficiency of scale is
not a hard rule for
ethanol production.
Ethanol distillation is
scalable. Micro
distilleries can be very
efficient. In certain
ways they can be more
efficient. Equipment
may be simpler and
electricity co-gen may
not be feasible, but
because they fit into
the local context
better, they can take
advantage of feedstock
& siting opportunities.
 Microdistillery Process Flow

Juarez de Sousa Silva, Federal University of Viçosa, MG, Brazil

Blume Distillery, U.S.

Brazilian and American 
farmers (among others) 
have worked out highly 
productive agricultural 
businesses based on the 
operation and output of 
very small, efficient 
distilleries.  Pictured here 
is a diagram of an 
integrated farming 
operation based on a 400‐
liters per day Blume 
Distillery.
 MADAGASCAR

MADAGASCAR

BRAZIL

BRAZIL
Efficient tubular steam boilers capable of burning bagasse
 Co-Product Utilization and Sale

The Blume Integrated farm produces alcohol for sale and also various primary 
products: hot water, wet distiller’s solubles, wet distiller’s grains (WDG) for animal 
feed, CO2 for a greenhouse and stover or bagasse for compost, but also secondary 
products, like fish food for an aquaculture operation, fish products, mushrooms and 
greenhouse vegetables.  These are all products for sale.
Putting the Farmer into the Fuel Supply Chain
 Adapting to change

y In mid 2009 Gaia experienced an ethanol supply

interruption in Addis and the refugee camps because
ethanol from the state-owned distillery was redirected
by government from cooking into a national auto fuel
blending program. We did not feel this was the right
decision by government. We decided to diversify our
focus from industrial to community scale ethanol
production. In so doing, we discovered a valuable and
ready technology in farm and micro-scale distillery
systems that were ready to go.
 Reasons why NOT to rely on large-scale ethanol

1. Ethanol supply interruption in Ethiopia was “top down,” imposed by

government and beyond our control. Both fuel blending the export to
wealthy markets are risks for us.
2. Large scale ethanol is subject to the pressures of commodity pricing.
Gasoline and petroleum fuels place inflationary pressure on ethanol,
which is a much cheaper fuel.
3. Large scale production is removed from community needs and
priorities.
In response, Gaia developed a new strategy
1. Introduce efficient micro distilleries – a simple, affordable technology.
2. Close the loop between production and consumption.
3. Use co-products of ethanol distillation to heat homes, feed animals and
fertilize land.
 Reasons to produce ethanol at the micro level

1. This strategy allows for local production of clean fuel in both urban
and rural settings
2. Bioethanol is intrinsically cheap to produce. It starts its price build-
up at the micro distillery gate at far below that of petroleum fuels. It
never has to enter a wider market where commodity pricing could
have an inflationary effect.
3. As a result, ethanol will be able to compete with purchased solid
biomass fuels (wood and charcoal) in most markets.
4. Locally produced fuel has a short supply chain. The producer can
retail directly, without the middlemen.
5. This makes the fuel more accessible to ‘base-of-the-pyramid’ buyers.
6. Stimulates local agricultural markets. Creates jobs harvesting and
transporting crops, operating machinery, retailing fuel.
7. Keeps wealth in the local community.
 Ethanol Production from Various Feedstocks

Yield Table -- Conventional and Alternative Feedstocks

Annual L/Ha Annual L/Ha
Cattails in sewage with cellulose 93,500 Yams 879
Cattails (starch only) 23,375 Corn 2,805
Cattails wild 10,051 Melons (Cucurbitaceae) 4,208
Sweet Sorghum (with cellulose) 32,725 Buffalo gourd (Cucurbita) 8,415
Sweet Sorghum cane 9,350 Prickly Pear Cactus, managed 8,415
Grain Sorghum 2,338 Prickly Pear wild 3,273
Cassava 16,830 Mesquite, managed 3,188
Nipa palms (Phillipines) 20,009 Castor bean (Jatropha) 3,029
Nipa palm (wild) 6,078 Rice, rough 1,870
Sago palm (wild, New Guinea) 6,078 Coffee pulp 1,403
Sugar cane (22 month crop) 8,415 Pinapples 729
Molasses 1,477 Mangos 944
Tropical Sugar Beets 5,610 Papayas 851
Potatoes, starch only 3,740 Bananas 1,477
Sweet Potatoes 2,057 Cashew apple (India) 486

Divide each value by 365 to compute number of houses served. If cassava yields 16,830
liters/hectare, this is 128 houses provided with cooking for 3 meals each day.
 Summation

y Africans desire modern stoves and clean fuels.

y Micro distilleries provide the direct link between biomass (produced
from agriculture, not forests) and fuel for stoves.
y Micro distilleries can produce fuel for 20 to 30¢ per liter. This is three
cooked meals. Solid fuels cost more.
y Micro distilleries and stoves packaged together provide a market for the
fuel and fuel for the stoves—the whole supply chain from production to
consumption.
y In distressed economies, short-term yields are more important than
long term investments. Two energy crops per year are preferable to a
30 year tree harvest or even a 5-year coppice rotation.
y Because of this, not enough sustainable forestry is practiced in Africa
today, but lots of sustainable agriculture is. Our farmers need cash
markets to buy seeds for next year, and cooking fuel is a big cash
market. Farmers to be diversified—producing food and fuel.
Thank You!
FIREHIWOT MENGESHA
Chemical Engineer, Distillery Specialist

PROJECT GAIA, INC.

FIREHIWOTM@PROJECTGAIA.COM
WWW.PROJECTGAIA.COM
717-321-4391