MBS approves jatropha diesel
The Malawi Bureau of Standards has awarded Lilongwe based Bio Energy Resource Limited (Berl) a pre-permit approval to manufacture, sell and distribute diesel manufactured from jatropha.
Berl started the research project to extract diesel from jatropha four years ago with technical assistance from the Ministry of Energy, Lilongwe Technical College as well as other universities from Holland.
According to a letter from MBS signed by Director General DavlinChokazinga, Berl has been given the approval to start manufacturing, selling and distribution of the jatropha powered diesel (96 percent) and pure diesel (four percent) blend with immediate effect.
Reads part of the pre-permit: “This permit approval follows the compliance of both your production processes and product with the minimum requirement of the relevant standards following our follow up audit assessment. You are, therefore, expected to ensure total compliance of your operation and product to the relevant MBS standards.”
In an interview in Lilongwe on Wednesday, Berlacting chief executive officer and finance manager, Chikaiko Chadzunda, said the pre-permit is the fruit of many years of hard work.
“About $8.1 million was pumped into this project but along the way there were some challenges. This is the reason why it has taken us four years to get the seal of approval from MBS. We can now go out and buy jatropha nuts in large quantities and we want more farmers to grow this crop because it can supplement their income,” said Chadzunda.
He further disclosed that Berlwould be offering farmers between K100-K130 per kilogramme of jatropha which is grown in abundance in Dowa, Kasungu, Lilongwe, Machinga, Mangochi, Mzimba, Nkhotakota, Rumphi and Salima.
The company will commence with a monthly production of 60 000 litres but plan to reach a peak of 60 million litres per year.
“We are currently sorting out some logistics to see how we will be selling the diesel. The Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority [Mera] is helping us on pricing and by next month we will know whether we should sell the product through petroleum companies or direct to consumers,” said Chadzunda.
MBS has cautioned Berl to maintain consistency in complying with the standards at least in two subsequent audits so as to qualify for a permit certificate for its products to use MBS quality mark.
Malawi has intensified efforts to identify alternative fuel sources as one way of reducing money spent on importing fuel.
Recently, Mera announced that trials to use ethanol in cars were progressing well and the product would be available in filling stations before the end of the year.
