Maize is our staple food here in Kenya.
But it’s more than just a staple food.
It’s a way of life, especially for people living here.
Maize not only feeds us, but in the process of growing it, we generate waste.
Think about the stalks, stovers and cobs that are part of the whole game.
The stalks and stovers are sometimes left on the farm to leach back crops nutrients into the soil – the goal of conservation agriculture.
The maize cobs on the other hand could be ground and mixed with livestock feeds.
Alternatively, they could be used as soil amendment.
But they could also be converted to bioethanol.
So let’s take a pause and reflect on another common Kenyan food waste.
POTATO PEELS
We all love those chips but where do we throw the peels?
Some of us find various uses for them including composting, making biogas and even lievstock feeds.
But what if we were to look at these peels (and the maize cobs) using a different eye?
THE ALCOHOLIC EYE…
Yeah right…
Don’t get me wrong.
Yes, alcohol is a beverage (to some)…
But it’s a fuel which could democratise access to renewable energy if managed well.
Here’s why…
STARCH & CELLULOSE
Maize cobs and potato peels are full of a substance that we use everyday – glucose.
However this glucose occurs in different forms in these two wastes…
In maize cobs, it’s mostly in the form of cellulose and lignin.
However in potato peels, it’s in the form of starch.
These semantics have more to do with the way these glucose molecules are connected to each other.
But that’s besides the point.
If these two wastes are placed somewhere and supplied with just the right enzymes, the starch and cellulose could be broken down to glucose.
Mind you, the enzymes we’re talking about are present in food wastes.
When glucose is supplied with yeast, it is converted to ethanol.
This is what we call bioethanol (because it comes from biomass).
So what’s the fuss about bioethanol? You say…
CLEAN COOKING
There are a few companies that sell bioethanol stoves to low income households.
In other words, they promote sustainable fuel.
But some of themare having it rough at the moment…
Bioethanol is not as easy to come by in Kenya.
So they’ve been forced to import it from nations that produce it for export.
This translates to higher overheads and costs.
But what if they were to source for it here in Kenya?
It would create business, employment, access to cleaner cooking among other things.
SO WHAT AM I SAYING?
Let’s take a different view of waste.
I know, I know…this seems a tall order…
After all… bioethanol yields from these sources (especially maize cobs) is still low.
But this is where breakthroughs that change fortunes are made.
Bioethanol beats biodiesel in cooking applications because it has a low flash point.
In other words, it can ignite at room temperature.
Some forms of biodiesel may need temperatures higher than 50°C to do so.
So imagine opportunities available if innovative young people capitalize on converting maize cobs into bioethanol?
Let me stop at that.
