Biofuel - opportunities and challenges for the poor in Cameroon : what can Cameroon learn from Brazil and South Africa?

Abstract: Ever since the shell geologist M. King Hubbert came up with his prophesy predicting the depletion of peak oil (regarded as "Hubbert peak" in the 1940s and 1950s), several countries in the world including Brazil, Sweden and the United States of America have been looking for alternative energy means with more emphasis on renewable energy such as bio-energy. The emphasis on bio-energy which to a large extent involves the use of energy crops to fulfil global energy demand and to establish a renewable energy system has resulted in debates where questions are raised regarding the clash between the use of land for food production for human consumption and land for energy production. Other question raised relate to the impact bio-energy will have on the poor most especially as it is ‘linked’ to rising food prices.Cameroon is a country rich in natural resources and also has rich oil potentials but most of the rural areas are map out of energy systems and this pose a development problem among others. This study seeks to investigate what impact biofuels can have on the poor as well as the benefit Cameroon can have if engage on biofuels as an alternative means of energy. A livelihood approach was used to understand the strategies which poor rural people use to make a living which in this case centred in agriculture. Embodied Energy Analysis was used to evaluate the energy requirements involved in the production of biofuels and Emergy Synthesis (ES) method was used to further show the extent to which biofuel production depends on humans and the environment.