Status quo of Biodiesel Production in Africa: A Review on Technological Options, Policies and Aboriginal Feedstock Potential

Growing industrialization, modernization along with better living standards in Africa, are expected to rise in the coming years with energy demand, increasing eventually. This expansion is occurring at a time when oil prices have reached new heights. Unstable oil prices do indeed, increase the vulnerability of importers. However, it also presents an opportunity to explore promising technical options to help reduce the over-reliance on imported petroleum fuels. Biofuels including biodiesel, offer new opportunities for African countries. They can contribute to economic growth, and rural incomes for some countries and provide low cost fuel for others.  In this paper: the importance, properties, vegetable feed-stocks and enhancement in technology for production of biodiesel are described, including; characterization, engine performance, energy actual state, current situation of biodiesel and bioenergy policies in Africa. From the exploration, it is inferred that; there are auspicious oil resources in the plan for biodiesel industrialization in Africa

Traditional Techniques of oil extraction from Kapok (Ceiba pentandra Gaertn.), Mahogany (Khaya senegalensis) and Neem (Azadirach indica A. Juss.) Seeds from the Far-North Region of cameroon

An investigation was carried out in four localities of the Far-North of Cameroon (Maroua, Mokolo, Kaele and Yagoua in order to improve endogenous methods of oil extraction from kapok (Ceiba pentandra Gaertn.), mahogany (Hhaya Senegalensis) and neem (Azadirachta indica A. Juss.) seed. The questionnaire administered to 75 traditional producers permitted us to note that extraction of oil from kapok is scarce. The traditional extraction processes from these oilseeds vary. But two principal techniques are predominant: the kneading process and the heated paste process. Husking, pounding and extraction make up the bottleneck. The yields are low, averagely six pans (of 1L capacity) are used to obtain one litre of oil. Amelioration of these methods through the introduction of grinders and pressers will not only help reduce strenuousness, but also increase the capacity to treat the yields and oil quality