AllAfrica surveys African bioenergy development

In Africa, All Africa is running an investigative series on neo-colonialism in biofuels project development, as well as tough times for feedstocks such as jatropha.

“Two years ago singer-songwriter and activist Bob Geldof was so excited about biofuels he even became the special advisor to biomass company Helius. At the time, Geldof visited jatropha curcas plantations in Swaziland run by UK biodiesel producer D1 Oils. Geldof was quoted as saying that these plantations had ‘life changing potential’. Since then, D1 Oils dropped out and Mr Geldof silenced,” said the report, which also examines land seizures and farmer displacement in Ethiopia.

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