Ethanol has emerged as an important renewable fuel for clean cooking, offering a sustainable alternative to traditional biomass and imported fossil fuels. Its adoption has the potential to significantly reduce indoor air pollution, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and enhance energy security, economic development, and gender empowerment, particularly in developing countries.
However, the sustainability and scalability of ethanol for clean cooking largely depend on the availability, affordability and accessibility of ethanol for the consumers. In that context local production and availability of alternative and sustainable feedstocks to sugar cane, that do not compete with food security is crucial. Currently, major ethanol clean cooking initiatives in countries like Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, and others depend primarily on molasses from sugar industries. But for large-scale adoption of ethanol as a clean cooking fuel, it is necessary to explore diverse feedstocks, such as cassava, sweet sorghum, cocoa waste, cashew apple and invasive species such as water hyacinth. Each feedstock presents unique economic, technical, and environmental opportunities and challenges.
Harry Stokes emphasized the importance of local production of enzymes to reduce costs and improve ethanol processing efficiency. He also highlighted carbon credit mechanisms as a potential revenue source for ethanol projects, helping improve financial viability while promoting sustainability.
Victor Legogie shared insights from his 50,000-liter-per-day bioethanol project in Nigeria, which uses cassava as its primary feedstock. While cassava is widely cultivated and high in starch, he noted logistical challenges such as its high moisture content (70%), which affects storage and transport costs. His company aims to integrate ethanol production with biomass power, carbon capture, and animal feed production to create a zero-waste system.
In Kenya, water hyacinth is an invasive species that clogs Lake Victoria, disrupting local ecosystems and livelihoods. Richard Arwa’s initiative converts water hyacinth into bioethanol, utilizing locally produced enzymes to break down cellulose into fermentable sugars. His micro-distillery model achieves 95% water recycling efficiency, demonstrating that small-scale ethanol production can be both economical and sustainable. His model of micro-distillery and fuel dispensing system with IOT tracking systems is poised for scaling.
Hamisi Juma Tindwa discussed how Tanzania produces 2.3 million tonnes of cashew apples annually, yet most of it rots unused. His research aims to develop efficient collection and processing methods to convert this wasted resource into ethanol for clean cooking. Due to the short lifespan of cashew apples (around 70 hours before fermentation begins), innovative preservation techniques will be essential to make cashew-based ethanol a viable solution.
Stanley Alexander Phillipson explained that sweet sorghum is ideal for semi-arid regions due to its low water requirements and dual-purpose use—providing both grain for food and stalks for bioethanol. He stressed the importance of farmer adoption, irrigation efficiency, and sustainable land use practices to maximize yields and reduce costs.
A key takeaway from the webinar was the crucial role of policy and investments in scaling alternative ethanol feedstocks. Strong regulatory frameworks, financial incentives, and strategic partnerships are essential to unlocking the full potential of feedstocks like water hyacinth, cashew apples, and sweet sorghum.
Summing up the discussion, Jossy Thomas (Project Manager, UNIDO) emphasized the broader impact of these efforts:
This webinar showcased innovative approaches to ethanol production and the importance of alternative feedstocks in making clean cooking more accessible and sustainable.
Watch the full webinar recording here: Webinar Alternative Feedstocks for Ethanol Production for Clean Cooking-20250312_134545-Meeting Recording.mp4
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Council on Ethanol Clean Cooking (CECC) invite you to a webinar on “Alternative Feedstocks for Ethanol Production for Clean Cooking.” This webinar will explore various feedstocks for ethanol production, including cassava, red sorghum, water hyacinth, and cashew apple. Industry experts and ethanol producers will share insights on business models, economic considerations, and policy frameworks supporting ethanol as a clean cooking fuel.
Save the date: The webinar will take place on March 12th at 13:00 CEST.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is pleased to welcome the Brazil Africa Institute (IBRAF) as a new partner of the Council of Ethanol Clean Cooking (CECC). This partnership strengthens global efforts to promote clean cooking solutions, advancing sustainability, energy access, and women’s empowerment in developing countries.
As a new member, IBRAF brings valuable expertise in ethanol microdistilleries and sugar industry value chain development, particularly in Africa. By leveraging Brazil’s proven best practices and IBRAF’s extensive network, the Institute will support CECC’s mission to scale up clean cooking adoption through technical assistance, market creation, and knowledge sharing. This collaboration underscores the power of global partnerships in driving inclusive economic growth, environmental sustainability, and improved public health.
For more information, visit the Brazil Africa Institute: https://ibraf.org/clean-cooking-council/
Photo: Brazil Africa Institute
The Kigoma Regional Commissioner’s Office has extended its heartfelt appreciation to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) for its continuous support and commitment to sustainable development, through provision of clean electric cooking equipment at Kigoma Girls Secondary School, which accommodates a total of 1,200 girls. This activity formed part of the successful implementation of a Kigoma Joint Programme, for Women’s Economic Empowerment
In a letter to the UNIDO Representative in Tanzania, the RC acknowledged how the project has contributed significantly to the well-being of students and staff at the school, providing a healthier and more conducive learning environment.
According to RC, the installation of electric cookers at Kigoma Girls Secondary School is a prime example of how sustainable energy solutions are transforming the region and requested scaling of clean cooking solutions to many other schools in the region. In addition, Kigoma’s Regional Administrative Secretary, Hassan A. Rugwa, added his thanks to UNIDO and stated that the Kigoma communities in general have taken note of the electric cooking solutions and look forward to similar sustainable electric cooking solutions.
Overall, the following benefits from the project can be highlighted:
UNIDO’s efforts are in support of the President’s initiative for a National Clean Cooking Strategy (2024-2034), aimed at environmental conservation and women empowerment. These efforts are not only improving the daily life of people in the region but also reducing the use of wood and charcoal in schools.
At COP29, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Council on Ethanol for Clean Cooking (CECC), in collaboration with the Vice-President Office of Tanzania and the Climate Finance & Energy Innovation Hub, hosted two important events focusing on clean cooking solutions. The sessions were designed to address the challenges and opportunities of scaling clean cooking technologies across Africa, with an emphasis on financing, partnerships, and national strategies.
The first session, titled “Financing for Scaling Clean Cooking,” took place on 14 November 2024 and explored the essential role that financing plays in addressing Africa’s clean cooking needs.
One of the main highlights of the session was Tanzania’s National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy, which aims to provide 80% of its population with access to clean cooking solutions by 2034. This ambitious strategy is central to the country’s efforts to reduce reliance on traditional cooking fuels, which are harmful to both health and the environment. The session also reflected on the African Women Clean Cooking Support Programme (AWCCSP), launched by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan at COP28 in 2023. This program focuses on empowering African women, who are disproportionately affected by the health risks of traditional cooking methods.
The panel also discussed the urgent need for $8 billion in annual investments to achieve universal clean cooking access by 2030, with a focus on innovative financing mechanisms that can mobilize the necessary resources.
The second session, titled “Scaling Clean Cooking through Partnerships,” took place later on 14 November and focused on the role of partnerships in accelerating the adoption of clean cooking solutions. While progress has been made in expanding access to clean cooking, 2.1 billion people globally still lack access, with Sub-Saharan Africa being the region most affected.
To meet the clean cooking goals by 2030, the panel emphasized that an annual investment of at least $4 billion is required. The session featured senior officials from Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and Madagascar, who shared their national clean cooking strategies and the challenges they face in scaling these solutions. The discussion also highlighted the importance of collaborative partnerships involving governments, international organizations, and the private sector to deliver sustainable solutions.
UNIDO’s Global Impact Programme was showcased as a model for scaling clean cooking solutions, with pilot projects already underway in Tanzania and Madagascar. New initiatives are also being launched in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Botswana to address the clean cooking needs in these countries. Panelists called for the integration of clean cooking solutions into national energy plans and emphasized the need for strong supply chains and local manufacturing to make clean cooking technologies more accessible and affordable.
On 15 November 2024, the COP29 Side Event titled “Renewable-Based Clean Cooking: An Opportunity for Climate and Development” was co-organized by IRENA and UNIDO. The session delved into the advantages and challenges of renewable energy-based clean cooking solutions. Panelists included experts from UNIDO, MECS, SNV, NEFCO, SCI, and ECC Advisory, who shared real-life examples of projects that are successfully deploying renewable cooking technologies in developing countries.
The panel emphasized that behavior change communication, as well as the affordability, availability, and accessibility of clean cooking fuels and technologies, are crucial for scaling clean cooking access. During her keynote speech, Ms. Rana Ghoneim, Chief of Energy and Climate Action at UNIDO, highlighted the critical importance of scaling renewable-based solutions for both gender empowerment and just energy transitions in developing countries.
The event was facilitated by Mikael Melin from SEforALL and moderated by Caroline Ochieng from IRENA. They discussed how renewable energy sources, such as ethanol and biogas, can provide scalable solutions that help reduce dependency on harmful cooking methods while contributing to climate goals.
One of the primary takeaways from the sessions was the urgent need for innovative financing mechanisms to bridge the funding gap. With $8 billion required annually to meet the clean cooking goals by 2030, new financial models are essential to mobilize the necessary investments. Governments and international partners must work together to create funding mechanisms that can attract private sector investment, ensuring that clean cooking solutions are implemented on a large scale.
Another key takeaway was the importance of partnerships between governments, international organizations, and the private sector. Collaboration across sectors is critical to scaling up clean cooking solutions. The experiences shared by countries like Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and Madagascar demonstrated that when national governments partner with international organizations and the private sector, they can leverage resources and expertise to overcome the barriers to scaling clean cooking solutions.
Additionally, the sessions underscored the need for strong integration of clean cooking solutions into national energy plans. This includes making clean cooking a central component of energy strategies and prioritizing the development of local manufacturing and robust supply chains. Local solutions will be key to ensuring that clean cooking technologies are accessible and affordable for the most vulnerable populations.
Finally, the sessions highlighted that renewable energy-based solutions for clean cooking offer a unique opportunity to drive both climate action and development. By embracing renewable technologies such as ethanol, biogas, and other sustainable fuels, countries can address both health and environmental issues while empowering communities, particularly women, and ensuring a just energy transition.
With the support of partners like the OPEC Fund and SEforALL, and the continued collaboration with countries such as Tanzania, Côte d’Ivoire, and Madagascar, the momentum for achieving universal clean cooking access by 2030 is building. However, urgent action is required to ensure that clean cooking technologies become a reality for millions of people in Africa and other developing regions.
The clean cooking sector in Madagascar is undergoing a major revival after years of slow development. During a workshop held during 22 and 23 October 2024 in Antananarivo, MCCI – an association of clean cooking businesses was officially launched. This event was initiated under the joint leadership of the Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons, Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, and Ministry of Industrialization and Trade. The event brought together more than 200 participants from the clean cooking sector. *The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), the World Food Programme (WFP) and World Wildlife Fund, supported the event.
Madagascar is facing a unique energy crisis, with around 80% of total energy consumption based on biomass, 68% of which comes from firewood and 10% from charcoal. This dependence on traditional unsustainably harvested biomass fuels is having a serious impact on the environment, contributing to alarming levels of deforestation. According to forecasts, 25% of Madagascar’s forests could disappear by 2030, due to demand for wood and charcoal for cooking. Only less than 12% of the population uses clean cooking technologies or improved stoves, leaving the majority of Malagasy people dependent on traditional cooking methods, with negative impacts on the environment and health. Traditional cooking methods present a major risk to public health due to Indoor Air Pollution causing around 21,000 deaths a year, or 10.7% of the country’s annual deaths, a figure that includes many children under the age of five. Indeed, Indoor Air Pollution remains the leading cause of child mortality in the country, due to acute respiratory infections caused by smoke generated when cooking with wood or charcoal.
Madagascar Clean Cooking Initiative (MCCI) is a national association of 48 companies from 13 regions of Madagascar. This initiative, which was set up under the guidance of UNIDO, promotes modern cooking technologies such as green sustainable charcoal, briquettes, biogas, bioethanol, and e-cooking. The launch was formalized by the signing of a quadripartite agreement between the Ministries of Energy, Environment, and Industry and the MCCI, sealing a strategic partnership to accelerate Madagascar’s just energy transition.
The MCCI initiative is part of the ‘Technical assistance project for the development of a national clean cooking and reforestation programme for Madagascar,’ implemented by UNIDO with financial support from The OPEC Fund for International Development.
The event served to lay solid foundations for the future National Clean Cooking Policy, a project currently being developed by the Malagasy government. The policy envisages greater access to affordable modern cooking fuels technologies for Malagasy households by 2030, in line with the objectives of the New Energy Policy (2015) and the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The workshop also enabled participants to share best practices and articulate challenges in the sector, while highlighting the importance of public-private partnership to accelerate the adoption of modern clean cooking technologies.
Mrs. Marie Louise SCHMIDT, President of the MCCI, expressed an ambitious vision, which is to make Madagascar a model for clean cooking in Africa, thereby reducing deforestation, protecting the environment and public health, and improving the well-being of the Malagasy people – particularly women and children.
The launching of MCCI generated enthusiasm among clean cooking entrepreneurs. Since its launch, the Initiative has received twenty new membership applications.
This article is written by Jean Luc Randriamampianina.
“Imagine rural schools in Tanzania where students no longer waste time collecting firewood for cooking in schools. Instead, they enjoy nutritious meals prepared using eco-friendly stoves and non-carbonized briquettes from Hanny G. Investment”
UNIDO is promoting the increased application of waste-to-energy technologies in agro-industries in Tanzania with financial support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and in partnership with several key national stakeholders in Tanzania – including the Ministry of Energy and the Vice President’s Office-Division of Environment (VPO). The project has established Bioenergy Incentive Fund (BIF), managed by Tanzania Development Bank (TIB) to facilitate scaling of bioenergy projects. Hanny G. Investment Company Limited is one of the beneficiaries of this program.
Hanny G. Investment Company Ltd is a women-led startup in Tanzania producing clean and affordable cooking fuels from bio-Waste and fabricates efficient cooking stoves for schools, food vendors, and households in Tanzania. The company has over 8 years of experience with over 5,300 institutional cookstoves using the briquettes were successfully disseminated and distributes over 18,720 tons of briquettes per year.
Currently, the company operates in 17 regions of Tanzania with over 500 schools and institutions as customers. The schools and institutions that shifted from firewood had saved up to 45% of their monthly expenditure for cooking fuel. Others have shifted from the use of gas to briquette due to high cost and maintenance. By switching to briquettes, these institutions are now saving over 25% on fuel costs. This reliable and clean cooking fuel is available year-round, solving the problem of finding and gathering firewood by students especially during the rainy season. The children no longer spend time gathering or chopping firewood, allowing them to focus more on their studies and personal development. With an average of 500 students in each institution and 30 staff, the company has been able to benefit more than 275,000 individuals across the country, ensuring they have clean cooking fuel and a healthy environment. Due to the high volume of bio waste (raw material), the company is looking forward to being able to recycle up to 36,000 Tons of waste per year by the end of 2025.
This article was contributed by Alusaria Verande Nyka.
Kigoma, located along the shores of Lake Tanganyika in western Tanzania, is embracing a significant shift in its cooking methods, driven by the UN Kigoma Joint Programme (KJP) II. Led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the initiative introduces energy-efficient electric cooking to households, promising both environmental and economic benefits.
For many households in Kigoma, cooking has long relied on charcoal and firewood—fuels that contribute to deforestation and indoor air pollution. UNIDO’s initiative aims to change this by introducing affordable, efficient electric cooking appliances. This shift aligns with UNIDO’s global mission to support sustainable development, particularly in achieving Sustainable Development Goal 7: access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy.
Kigoma was chosen as a starting point for this initiative due to its unique challenges. Limited access to clean energy and a heavy reliance on biomass have led to both environmental degradation and serious health concerns, such as respiratory illnesses caused by indoor smoke. With the national electricity grid expected to expand into the region by November 2024, Kigoma presents a timely opportunity for introducing electric cooking solutions.
The electric cooking project in Kigoma is multi-faceted, focusing on:
Though it has launched in Kigoma, the initiative plans to expand to neighboring areas like Kakonko and Kibondo. UNIDO envisions creating a sustainable model that can be replicated across Tanzania, accelerating the shift from traditional biomass to cleaner, more efficient electric cooking.
In conclusion, the electric cooking initiative marks a crucial step in Kigoma’s journey towards a cleaner, healthier future. Through the KJP II, UNIDO is empowering communities with access to modern, sustainable energy solutions, setting an example for the rest of Tanzania.
Azam Bakhresa Group of companies in Dar es Salaam has launched a campaign to bring clean cooking solutions to 10,000 women food vendors across Tanzania. In collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Bakhresa Group aims to distribute cookstoves from UNIDO’s bioethanol cookstove promotion project.
At the launch event, UNIDO National Energy Expert, Victor Akim, highlighted that the project is being implemented in partnership with the Vice President’s Office–Division of Environment, the Ministry of Energy, and UNCDF, with funding from the EU Delegation. The event took place on September 19, 2024, at the Bakhresa Azam offices in Dar es Salaam
At the launch event, Hussein Sufian, Corporate Affairs Director of the Said Salim Bakhresa (SSB) group, announced that the campaign aims to combat climate change. In partnership with the UNIDO and a gas distributor, the initiative will distribute ethanol stoves nationwide, beginning with a donation of 500 stoves in Dar es Salaam.
With nearly 80% of households relying on charcoal and firewood – leading to widespread deforestation – Sufian emphasized the need for affordable alternatives like ethanol. The campaign aligns with the government’s recently launched 10-year National Clean Cooking Energy Strategy, which includes an estimated budget of $1.8 billion dedicated to transitioning to cleaner energy. President Samia Suluhu Hassan highlighted the risks associated with unsafe cooking methods and called for the integration of this strategy into Tanzania’s Vision 2050.
Bakhresa Group is an industrial company based in Tanzania, East Africa. Owned by an entrepreneur and Tanzanian billionaire Said Salim Bakhresa. He owns the Bagamoyo Sugar Factory located in Bugamova District, in the Pwani Region of Tanzania.
For more information regarding the Bakhresa group please click here.
The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Council on Ethanol Clean Cooking (CECC), in collaboration with the U.S. Grains Council (USGC), are excited to announce an upcoming webinar focused on the critical role of policy in driving ethanol’s positive impact. Building upon the insights gained from our previous webinar, “Seizing the Pathway for Ethanol and Stove Standards,” this event will explore global, regional, and country-level experiences in developing and adopting standards for fuel-grade ethanol and stoves.
Save the date: The webinar will take place on September 17th at 15:00 CEST.
By examining challenges and best practices in ethanol policy implementation, this webinar will provide valuable guidance for stakeholders seeking to optimize their ethanol infrastructure and expand access to clean cooking solutions.
We invite you to join us for this important discussion.
