Must hands over ethanol stoves to farmers

Thyolo-based Malawi University of Science and Technology (Must) has handed over ethanol stoves to 36 households in Nkhotakota to assess the viability of ethanol as a domestic fuel.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Davies Mweta, executive dean of Malawi Institute of Technology under Must,said they want to be extracting raw ethanol from cassava peels, to be used for cooking and blending with petrol to run motor vehicles.

He said the handover of the ethanol stoves is a component of their pilot project called Techno-Economic Feasibility of Decentralised Production of Bio-Ethanol Using Wastes From Cassava Processing in Nkhotakota.
“The farmers will also benefit economically by selling the peels to Nkhotakota Cassava Processors Association for production of ethanol which will be sold to Ethco,” said Mweta.
Nkhotakota District Council director of planning and development Griffin Mhango said the project will assist Nkhotakota because it is a major cassava growing district in the country.
Ethanol Company of Malawi (Ethco) operations manager Dereck Zamaere said Ethco supports any intervention to do with clean energy.
Must is implementing the project with financial support from Capacity Building for Managing Climate Change (Cabmacc) in Malawi.