Challenge

Despite substantial petroleum resources, Nigeria has not been able to share the benefits of this natural endowment with its poorest and most vulnerable communities. At the same time, petroleum products are fast becoming less acceptable because of high levels of carbon emissions. Alternatives to fossil fuel-based energy sources, such as energy from crops, are sorely needed. However, the use to grow crops for energy needs to be balanced so that the nation’s food and water security is not compromised.

Action

In collaboration with other entrepreneurs, Adeolu Odusote, a mechanical engineer with a passion for the environment, has devised a scheme to establish whether ethanol (an energy alternative to the petroleum products from fossil fuel) can reduce Nigeria’s dependence on crude oil. Together with colleagues, Adeolu is involved in growing and processing large cassava farmlands yielding ethanol. But these are no ordinary farms: the plantations are carefully developed so not to compete with food production while sustainable management practices ensure that ecosystems, communities’ living spaces and water supply are all secured. A 10,000 hectare farm is presently being developed as a pilot effort. This farm is in Ekiti State, in the country’s south western region.

Impact

The $122 million project is the first Nigerian ethanol facility to commence production, and uses cassava as a feedstock. The project has started to make more people aware that there are other ways of getting energy apart from crude oil, and is also showing that cassava sources for ethanol should not come from farms producing cassava for food, but from non-food farms and from supervised out growers organised for this purpose. Critically, Crownek Green Energy provides an innovative and scalable business model for alternative energy generation.