Biofuels feedstocks are organic materials from which biofuels are made. These feedstocks are wide ranging, but generally fall into two broad classes as sugars/starch for bioethanol and oils for pure plant oil (PPO) or biodiesel.
In relation to diversity of biofuels feedstocks that can be grown, Zambia is among the few countries with very positive environment including geographical location, land size, poverty and being landlocked. In Zambia’s approach to selecting preferred feedstocks, the parameters considered include scope of ownership of the biofuels wealth at national and individual levels, production technology, job creation, resilience against external disturbances, diversity of products, size of investment, market scope, land requirements, water requirements, food security, geographical coverage of ownership in the country and environment.
Based on this approach to feedstock assessment, the main preferred feedstocks in Zambia include sugarcane, sweet sorghum and cassava for bioethanol and Jatropha, castor and palm for biodiesel.
For more info see:
1. BioenergyWiki Article on Feedstocks, http://www.bioenergywiki.net/Feedstocks!
