Some stakeholders are making a strong case for Ghana to go into the mass production of sunflower to produce biofuel to solve the country’s current energy crises.
Agronomist and Biofuel Consultant, Issah Sulemana indicates this may come handy.
Government has already indicated it is seeking for alternative sources of renewable energy.
Issah Sulemana speaking to Citi Business news said 40,000 acre of sunflower could produce in excess of 400mega watts of power.
He argues this will be the best option for Ghana now as sunflower also withstands drought.
“All the other sources of energy are controlled by other people and they are not flowing. We can see that the gas from Nigeria is not flowing. Asogli and Takoradi are standing. So we need to get control over the source that we control.”
Issah Sulemana comparing Malaysia and Indonesia said “Malaysia grows palm oil, so every year they know exactly how many tonnes of biodiesel they will be producing and in Indonesia, exactly how many tonnes they are getting from coconut.”
He expressed assurance that the project had proven viable as “research institutions and universities had done extensive work on the project in the past 5 years.”
“So we have empirical research-based statistics for this project,” he added.
It will require an estimated 20 million dollars to undertake the project.
Issah Sulemana adds that there will be other by-products like the sunflower cake which in effect could cut down the cost of poultry production in Ghana by about 50 percent if the project is undertaken.
By: Anim Kwaku Boadu/citifmonline.com/Ghana
