Final Report: 2014
Bioenergy in Sudan,
Andrew Lang
On invitation by Sudan
University of Science and
Technology.
1/28/2014
Table of Contents
No.
Day 1: 20th January
Day 2: 21st January
Day 3: 22st January
Day 4: 23st January
Content
Page
ARRIVAL
3
Talk I: BIOENERGY – A SOURCE OF ELECTRICITY, INDUSTRIAL HEAT
AND COOLING AND TRANSPORT FUELS
4
Visit I: AN IRRIGATION FARM ON THE NILE EDGE
4
Visit II: SUST AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY
5
Visit II I: JICA-Funded Facility
6
Visit III: CAMPUS FOR ANIMAL PRODUCTION, FISHERIES AND
WILDLIFE
6
FULL DAY WORKSHOP: GREEN ENERGY: CURRENT AND FUTURE
VISION
7
SUDAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS SEMINAR
8
Day 5: 24th January
DEPARTURE
9
IMPRESSIONS AND VIEWS ON THE POTENTIAL FOR SUDAN TO DEVELOP A BIOENERGY SECTOR
10
BIODATA
ANDREW LANG
14
APPENDEX I
TALK I BROCHURE: ASSHAHEED HALL
15
APPENDEX II
APPENDEX III
FULL DAY WORKSHOP BROCHURE (DEANSHIP HALL)
TALK II BROCHURE (ENGINEERING UNION HALL)
16
18
2
Bioenergy in Sudan, on invitation by Sudan University of
Science and Technology.
Andrew Lang (vice president World Bioenergy Association)
This was my second visit to Khartoum, with the first in February 2013 on invitation
from Aeronautical Research Center-Sudan. This first visit was within a project on
jatropha production for oil to produce biodiesel, as part of a larger project on
developing a National Biofuel Roadmap.
This jatropha biodiesel scoping project (now completed) entailed a lot of research into
the climatic, rainfall, soils, and forestry distribution and deforestation in Sudan, as
well as the recent economic trends, and trends in use of fossil energy and biomass for
energy.
My connection to this project came via an invitation from Mrs (now Dr) Farouk at the
Biomass for Biofuels and Value-added Products conference held in Kuala Lumpur in
October 2012. Mrs Farouk approached the stand of the World Bioenergy Association
and asked if the WBA might be able to provide some input into this Sudan Biofuels
Roadmap development project. Since I was the board member with most interest and
background knowledge in this topic I took up the invitation.
In this short report I will give a day by day account and then provide a brief overview
of my impressions and views on the potential for Sudan to develop a bioenergy sector
and which of the many technologies might be most worthwhile to develop initially,
and what the wider option might be for cost-effective development of renewable
energy sources, and what the role might be for university-supported or sponsored
research within this.
The Schedule
20th January. I arrived at about 6.30 pm and was met by Dr Farouk and assisted
though the entry process by Abubakr from general relationship unit in SUST. I was
checked into the Holiday Villa hotel in Nile St.
3
21st January:
a) Bioenergy – A Source of Electricity, Industrial Heat and Cooling and
Transport Fuels:
Collected by Dr Farouk and taken to the SUST Almugran campus. After meeting with
the Vice Chancellor and several senior staff members I made a presentation in
Alshaheed Hall on ‘Bioenergy – a source of Electricity, Industrial Heat and Cooling
and Transport Fuels’ followed by a presentation on potential of Biofuel Production in
Sudan by Dr. Farouk. . This session was co-organised by the Deanship of Scientific
Research and External Relationship. It was attended by senior staff, postgraduates,
and some other people from other universities, research centres and institutes,
Ministry of Petroleum, Nile Petroleum Company, biofuel committee in National
council and the biofuel industry including Kenana.
4
b) Visit an Irrigation Farm on the Nile Edge
In the afternoon I was taken by Dr Md Elhadi and Dr Farouk to visit an irrigation
farm on the Nile edge just north of Khartoum, and then to an irrigated farm using
groundwater just to the west, and to see another potential irrigation site.
22nd January:
a) Visit to SUST Agriculture
Collected from the hotel by Dr Farouk and taken to the SUST Agriculture campus
where I met senior staff and gave a presentation on low rainfall forestry establishment
and possible species in Australia and elsewhere, to a group of staff members and
postgraduates.
5
b) JICA-Funded Facility
After lunch and a brief visit to the impressive JICA-funded facility where they are
trailing and assessing control options for the problem weed Striga hermontheca.
c) Visit to campus for Animal Production, Fisheries and Wildlife
Following this we went to the SUST campus for Animal Production, Fisheries and
Wildlife. After a short meeting with senior members of the academic staff we looked
at some experimental work on biogas from animal manure, and on processing of
animal manure into a form of more convenient domestic cooking fuel. This was
followed by a tour of the zoo area and animal handling site, and of the chicken and
diary cow production areas.
6
23rd January:
a) Full Day Workshop: Green Energy: Current and Future Vision
This day was opened by an address by the Vice Chancellor and entirely given over to
a full day workshop in the Vice Chancellor’s lecture theatre. There was a series of
presentations on current research at the SUST campuses by staff members and
postgraduates on topics including current work on jatropha, comparison of
productivity of pond microalgae with identical algae in photobioreactors, and work on
seawater greenhouses.
A presentation by Dr Abduelmutalib from Khartoum University on the development
of machinery and equipment for small scale processing of jatropha demonstrated the
high level of competency of staff and graduates of SUST and partner universities.
As well there presentations were given by the head of Nile Petroleum and Dr Elhadi
(on the potential for ethanol as a fuel for piston engine planes). I gave two further
presentations, one on the world view on energy production from biomass, and one on
the general potential for biomass-to-energy in Sudan. The morning sessions were
chaired by Dr Farouk, and Mr. Omer from the Ministry of Petroleum chaired the
afternoon session.
Participants in the workshop had lunch after the long morning session. At the end of
the shorter afternoon session good discussions were held on the starting up of a
national bioenergy association. A group formed from the people present to work to
bring this association into being. At the start of the day the Vice Chancellor had
undertaken that SUST would be supportive of such an organisation.
7
b) Sudan
Society
of
Mechanical
Engineers
Seminar
(Organised
in
Collaboration with MOWRE)
In the evening Dr Farouk brought me to the Sudan Society of Mechanical Engineers
for a seminar (organised in collaboration with MOWRE). It was chaired by Dr Farouk
and I presented on ‘Bioenergy Technology and Electricity Production’. This was
followed by a talk by Dr Elhadi. About 30 minutes of lively questions, responses and
comments followed.
8
24th January:
a) Wrap Up and Travel back
This was basically a day to pack and finalise information. Dr Farouk collected me at
about 11.00 am and gave a short tour of the city and some places of interest, provided
a pleasant meal, and took me to the airport by about 4pm.
At this point I’d like to thank all those who were so welcoming and helped make this
few days so worthwhile for me, and hopefully for SUST. So to the Vic Chancellor
and the Deans, senior staff and post-graduates I would like to thank you for your time
and welcome. To Dr Farouk and Dr Musaab Hassan who organised the logistics of
my visit – it ran like clockwork. My gratitude to Dr Mohammed Elhadi for driving me
to get an insight into farming activities. And also to Mr. Fathelrahman the visionary,
farmer and food producer who we visited. And a particular thanks to Dr Farouk who
drove me around safely (though often only just), and was the source of much
necessary information.
Andrew Lang
9
Impressions and views on the potential for Sudan to develop a bioenergy sector
Sudan already gets over 50% of its energy from biomass (in the form of wood and
charcoal), though this is almost all as domestic and industrial heat and much of it is
relatively inefficient. This use of wood by Sudan’s large and growing population is
the root cause for ongoing deforestation in Sudan, which already has one of the
highest deforestation rates in the world.
However it is clear that this use of wood and charcoal has reduced considerably,
thanks to the access by city dwellers to relatively cheap bottled LPG. Use of wood for
industrial heating for brick making and bakeries has also reduced as these are
impacted by production of concrete bricks, or as bakeries convert to LPG gas firing.
In different countries, which bioenergy technology is used usually depends on what
biomass is available in adequate volume at low cost. So for some countries forestry
residues are the primary biomass. In others it is straw, in some it is wastes suitable for
anaerobic digestion to produce biogas, and in some it is predominantly the organic
fraction of municipal waste.
Again, the main energy product biomass is used to produce changes from country to
country. So the colder countries have a greater need for heat, while the hotter
countries might need mostly transport biofuels and cooling, as well as distributed
electricity. In line with this, Sudan is likely to have greatest need for cooling,
transport fuels and electricity generation for off-grid locations.
Obviously, Sudan has a well-developed manufacturing sector, and a good supply of
well-trained engineers and people with good technical skills. It is well within the
technical and manufacturing abilities in the country to produce much of the plant and
equipment for those bioenergy technologies that are relatively straightforward
engineering-wise.
While Sudan appears to be a country that is arid or semi-arid, for much of the country
water is in adequate supply, either piped from the Nile valley or sourced from subartesian basins. This means that there is real scope for implementing the more waterefficient options for food and biomass production, as well as halting desertification.
Which of the many technologies might be most worthwhile to develop initially?
The first step would usually be to conduct a biomass audit state by state. This would
include industry organic waste (from intensive animal production, food processing or
10
timber or paper processing), municipal biowastes (including sewage), lignocellulosic
materials including woody weeds, agrobiomass (including cotton ginning wastes and
cotton stalk), and so on.
When this is done it will be easier to assess what biomass might be available, and so
which bioenergy technologies would be most suitable. Beyond this in the more distant
timeline there might be scope for some prospective wastes or biomass from projects
in development including such things as large scale jatropha production or
establishment of short rotation woody energy crops.
However not all bioenergy technologies require large amounts of biomass to be
available at one site. Examples of the ones that can be at relatively small scale and
that entail relatively low capital cost/unit output and low technical risk include
Anaerobic digestion of putrescibles wastes – this can be at household small
industry, institution (university) or rural township scale, and can use the wet
organic wastes generated by that group or industry. This can include chicken
or fish processing or production businesses. The residue is an almost odourless
fertiliser substitute that can have a moderate value in itself. Systems might
produce from 50 kW-electric output and up, or gas suitable for cooking or
industrial heating or steam production.

Gasification of dry woody material, or alternatively, using seed husks. It may
be feasible to use cotton stalk or jatropha or other horticultural prunings, or
woody weeds like mesquite or rubber bush. Gasifier s can produce electricity
via a generator driven by a spark ignition motor, or can simply produce a
flammable gas (a mix of H2 and CO) suitable for such industrial uses as brick
kiln firing. Gasifiers are available from 10kW-e and up, with models from 60
kW-e with automated feed systems

Biomass to heat in a basic but efficient furnace. This can be used for
production of low grade heat (80-110C) or to heat mineral oil to about 250 C
to drive an organic rankin cycle (ORC) turbine to produce electricity as a
secondary product

Production of biodiesel from animal fats or used cooking oil. The possibility
of producing and using jatropha oil as a feedstock would mean the possible
availability of large amounts of seedcake and glycerine (see Lang and Farouk
report – Jatropha Oil Production for Biodiesel and Other Products. 2013).
The appeal of biodiesel production is that it can be done a wide range of scale,
11
the biodiesel can be blended with fossil diesel or used straight, and it can be a
way for regional communities to reduce costs of importing fossil diesel, while
also creating jobs locally and developing greater energy self sufficiency.

Production of ethanol from industrial or domestic residues of starchy or sugary
material, to produce fuel-grade ethanol. Development of this production
process is an option probably best left to the industries that might have
quantities of such residues, but SUST may have a role in the R&D or
economic feasibility. The production of fuel grade ethanol from smaller
volumes of low concentration ferment product is supposed to be fairly costeffective but it is actually not often done in commercial practice
What the wider option might be for cost-effective development of renewable
energy sources.
SUST may already be involved in research on small wind turbines, solar photovoltaic
(PV) systems, and other technologies for solar radiation to electricity or cooling, or
shallow geothermal heating and cooling system (heat pumps). All these may have a
useful role and it comes down to cost-effectiveness or output of energy per unit of
capital investment. This may be different for a business or householder in Khartoum
or on the national grid than for someone in a smaller community in far west, north or
south east Sudan.
One issue if using wind and or solar energy systems is that these are not supplying
baseload or on-demand product, while most bioenergy technologies can do this. So
there may be scope for combining one or two energy systems (i.e., bioenergy
gasification or biogas-to-electricity AND solar PV) or developing an efficient and
cost-effective energy storage system. However this is the aim of researchers all
around the world, but to date no cost-effective energy storage system has been
developed that does not involve high cost and considerable energy losses
What the areas might be for university research within bioenergy development.
In the short sections before this a number of areas are identified where R&D by SUST
undergraduates or postgraduates may be called for. And there are others not identified
specifically. Together these might include work on

microalgae production for lipids, for biogas, animal feed, pharmaceuticals

indigenous and non-indigenous forestation species,
12

short rotation energy wood options

desert stabilisation species

biodiesel from animal fats and used cooking oil

biogas production and systems for rural communities

auditing biomass availability

development of pilot plants for biogas, gasification and biodiesel

development of efficient systems for jatropha harvesting, oil extraction and
cleaning

production of cooling systems using absorbtion chilling technology

cost effective energy storage systems for regional (off-grid) communities)

development of buried-line irrigation systems

development of low-labour establishment options for jatropha plantations

development of more efficient layout and pruning systems for jatropha
plantings allowing more mechanised harvesting

identification, collection and crossbreeding of jatropha species to develop
productive cultivars suited to different regions or soil types in Sudan (and
suited to mechanical harvesting and yielding high oil/ha)
Andrew Lang, World Bioenergy Association
Hazir Farouk, Sudan University of Science and Technology
28.01.2014
13
BIODATA
Andrew Lang is an Australian agricultural scientist
with farming and forestry experience. He is a
Churchill and Gottstein Fellow. He is a board
member and a vice president of the World
Bioenergy Association in Sweden and in Australia
he occasionally work as a consultant, including subcontracting to other consulting firms and now he is
the president of Farm Forest Growers Victoria
(FFGV) and the director of SMARTimbers Cooperative. As board member of WBA
he is informed about the range of bioenergy technologies in use around the world,
including within the biofuels sector. His interests are in agronomy and low rainfall
forestry, and the logistics and economics of larger scale biomass-to-energy. Most
recently he worked for the Aeronautical research in Khartoum on the potential and
economics/logistics of large scale production of Jatropha oil for biodiesel production.
Over recent years he have attended and presented at renewable energy conferences,
bioenergy conferences, pellet conferences, and forestry and farm forestry conferences,
in Australia and other countries including USA, China, Sth Korea, Brazil, Austria,
India, Sweden, Finland, Turkey, Durban New Zealand and North America. His
reports and publications and deal with forestry management and bioenergy
development in different scales.
14
APPENDEX I: TALK I: Alshaheed Hall
‫جامعة السودان للعلوم والتكنولوجيا‬
Sudan University of Science Technology
‫عمادة البحث العلمي‬
Deanship of Scientific Research
Date : 21th January 2014 (Tuesday)
Time : 10:00-12:00 PM
Venue : Alshaheed Hall, Almugran Campus,
Co-Organized by: Deanship of Scientific Research and External
Relationship
Action
Al-Quran Alkareem
SUST welcome note
Chancellor speech
Bioenergy- A Source
of Electricity,
Industrial and
Domestic Heat &
Cooling and
Transport Fuels
Potential of Biofuel
Production in Sudan
Commentators
Time
10:00-10:05 am
10:05-10:10 am
10:10-10:20 am
Designation
Dr. Musaab Zaroog
Prof. Hashim Ali salim
10:20-11:00 am
Mr. Andrew Lang
11:00-11:20 am
11:20-12:00 pm
Dr. Hazir Farouk
Abedelraheem
Dr. Mohammed Elhadi
Ahmed
Mr. Nasreldeen Elhusien
Mr. Omer Adam Bakheit
For more info contact: Dr. Hazir 0113094458
15
‫‪APPENDEX II : WORKSHOP‬‬
‫جامعة السودان للعلوم والتكنولوجيا‬
‫‪Sudan University of Science Technology‬‬
‫عمادة البحث العلمي‬
‫‪Deanship of Scientific Research‬‬
‫ورشة عمل عن‪:‬‬
‫واقع الطاقات المتجددة في السودان‪ :‬الحاضر والمستقبل‬
‫املكان‪ :‬قاعة العمداء – اجلناح الغريب – جامعة السودان للعلوم والتكنولوجيا‬
‫الزمان‪ :‬اخلميس‪ 23 :‬يناير ‪2014‬م ( ‪ 10:0‬ص – ‪ 4:30‬م)‬
‫الجلسة االفتتاحية ‪ 10:20 – 10:00( :‬ص)‬
‫القــــــــــــــرآن الكــــــــــــــــريم‬
‫الكلمات‬
‫كلمة الترحيب‬
‫المقدم‬
‫أ‪.‬د‪ .‬هاشم علي سالم‪ /‬مدير الجامعة‬
‫د‪.‬علي محمد حمدان‪ /‬رئيس لجنة الطاقات المتجددة بالجامعة‬
‫الجلسة األولي‪ 11:40 – 10:20) :‬ظهرا(‬
‫عدد‬
‫‪1‬‬
‫‪2‬‬
‫‪3‬‬
‫اسم الورقة‬
‫الحاجة الستخدام الوقود الحيوي والقضايا اللوجستية واالقتصادية ذات‬
‫‪Andrew Lang‬‬
‫الصلة‬
‫م‪.‬نصر الدين الحسين‬
‫التحديات التي تواجه الطاقة في السودان‬
‫‪A technology roadmap for using Ethanol in‬‬
‫د‪.‬محمد الهادي أحمد السيد‬
‫‪agricultural aircrafts in Sudan‬‬
‫رئيس الجلسة‬
‫المقدم‬
‫الزمن‬
‫‪ 10:35 – 10:20‬ص‬
‫د‪.‬حاذر فاروق عبدالرحيم‬
‫‪ 11:55 – 10:35‬ص‬
‫‪ 11:20 – 11:00‬ص‬
‫الجلسة الثانية‪ :‬المشاريع البحثية في الوقود الحيوي بكليات الهندسة والزراعة )‪ 12:30 – 11:30‬ظ )‬
‫عدد‬
‫‪1‬‬
‫‪2‬‬
‫‪3‬‬
‫المقدم‬
‫اسم الورقة‬
‫واقع الوقود الحيوي في كلية الهندسة ‪ -‬جامعة السودان للعلوم‬
‫د‪.‬علي محمد حمدان‬
‫والتكنولوجيا‬
‫‪Potentials of Jatropha curcas L. as a source of bio‬‬‫‪based products in Sudan‬‬
‫‪Design and development of low cost postproduction‬‬
‫‪ machinery package for Jatropha curcas L.seedes in‬د‪.‬عبد المطلب فضل هللا خير هللا‬
‫‪rural areas‬‬
‫م‪.‬رحمة معتصم حسين عمر‬
‫انتاج الوقود الحيوي من الطحالب في السودان‬
‫د‪.‬إبراهيم سعيد‬
‫رئيس الجلسة‬
‫الزمن‬
‫‪ 11:50 – 11:30‬ص‬
‫‪ 12:10 – 11:50‬ظ‬
‫د‪.‬بابكر عبدهللا كرامة‬
‫‪ 12:30 – 12:10‬ظ‬
‫‪ 12:50 – 12:30‬ظ‬
‫الغداء ‪ +‬صالة الظهر (‪ 2:00– 1:00‬م)‬
‫الجلسة الثالثة‪ :‬المشاريع المستقبلية في الطاقات المتجددة )‪ 4:30– 2:00‬م(‬
‫عدد‬
‫‪1‬‬
‫‪2‬‬
‫‪3‬‬
‫المقدم‬
‫اسم الورقة‬
‫‪ The see water green houses‬د‪.‬عباس الشيخ رحمة محمد‬
‫‪Andrew Lang The future scenario of biomass energy in Sudan‬‬
‫الحضور‬
‫تعقيب من وزارة الطاقة‪ ,‬وزارة البترول‪ ,‬وزارة العلوم واالتصاالت‬
‫ولجنة الوقود الحيوي بالمجلس الوطني ‪ +‬نقاش حر‬
‫الختــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــــام‬
‫‪17‬‬
‫رئيس الجلسة‬
‫أ‪ .‬عمر آدم بخيت‬
‫الزمن‬
‫‪ 2:20 – 2:00‬م‬
‫‪ 2:50 – 2:30‬م‬
‫‪ 4:20 – 3:00‬م‬
APPENDEX III: TALK II: Engineering Union Hall