Sweden’s Jord secures land for large-scale biofuel project in Senegal

 By Ivan Shumkov

The Municipal Council of Sakar in Senegal has officially allocated 300 hectares (741 acres) of land to a unit of Swedish firm Jord AB for the development of a large-scale biofuel project and is expected to provide a further 700 hectares in the coming month.

The assigned land is located between the villages of Dassilame and Taiba-Bodiancounda in the Sedhiou region of southern Senegal and has remained unused for over 20 years, said the Stockholm-headquartered company, which specialises in the production of solid biofuel and biochar from C4-grass.

Jord Africa intends to use the land to produce about 50,000 tonnes of solid biofuel annually, thus supporting the country’s quest to reach 40% renewable energy by 2030.

“We face many challenges in our daily lives, from working in the rice fields without proper equipment to poor road conditions and limited support for local production. If this project can help in these areas, it will ease the burden on mothers, create jobs for our youth, and support the development of the entire municipality. We’ve already made significant sacrifices and made land available because we believe in this initiative. We hope the project will give back to the community so that our municipality can grow and, in a few years, rank among the best in the region,” commented Souaibou Cisse, Municipality Project Coordinator.

This article has been republished from The Renewables Now.