Ghana would remain hooked to the vagaries of the global oil market unless concerted efforts were made to develop sustainable fuels, Mr. Kwame Amporfo Twumasi, Deputy Minister of Energy, said in Accra on Tuesday.
He said the security of energy supply in Ghana was an issue of increasing concern since the country currently imported all of its petroleum requirements in the form of crude oil and petroleum products.
"The economic impact of rising oil prices cannot be overemphasized and we would remain hooked to the vagaries of the global oil market unless we develop sustainable alternative fuels," he said.
Mr Twumasi was addressing about 50 participants attending a three-day workshop on "Biofuels: Research and Development Technologies for a Sustainable Development in Africa".
The participants, drawn from Ghana, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mali, Malawi, Senegal, Tunisia and Zimbabwe are expected to survey technologies for the exploitation of renewable feedstock with focus on biofuels from energy crops.
Other participants are from Europe, USA and Latin America.
They are also expected to evaluate capacity building needs in Africa and exchange information on the successful experiences in applied technologies for biofuels and bio-based products in Africa and other countries.
The workshop is under the auspices of the International Centre for Science and High Technology (ICS) of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in collaboration with the Institute of Industrial Research (IIR) of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of Ghana.
Mr. Twumasi said there were certain oil bearing plants such as the oil palm, Soya beans and the Jatropha Curcus, which did well in Ghana and so the country could put them to good use.
"The Jatropha Curcus, in particular does well even in wastelands and if we could produce enough fuel from this plant to supplement our national demand, it would reduce the foreign exchange bill for crude oil products imports.
"The increased use of biofuel would also create avenues for job creation and opportunities for increased investment by local entrepreneurs," he said.
"The Ministry in collaboration with the Energy Commission and other stakeholders has drafted a Biofuel Policy which is in the process of being presented to Cabinet."
Mr Twumasi said government would ensure that the biofuel industry was developed on a sustainable base devoid of the need for subsidies, which could be detrimental to food crop production.
Mr Daniel Baffour-Awuah of the UNIDO Office in Ghana, said the recent increases in oil prices were an important rationale for considering biofuels for Africa, since some countries could spend as much as 50 per cent of their export earnings on petroleum imports.
"There is a growing realization in the region that dependency on imported fuel is having a negative impact on the regional economic development. Out of 47 of the world's poorest countries, 38 are net oil importers - majority of them from Africa," he said.
Dr Charles Wereko-Brobby, former Chief Executive of Volta River Authority and an energy expert, who chaired the function, said Africa's major challenge was development.
He said it was energy use that pushed the development of most of the developed nations and Africa could speed up its development if its energy needs were properly addressed.
Dr Wereko-Brobby said Ghana should learn how Malaysia was able to use its oil palm industry as energy to propel development.
"We need to set targets for ourselves in terms of achieving some leverage in the biofuel industry where all fuel stations would have an attached biodiesel unit to serve cars, especially the commercial ones, with biofuel to reduce the dependence on imported petroleum products," he said.
Dr Essel Ben Hagan, Director, IIR of CSIR, in a welcoming address, said the workshop was aimed at identifying appropriate strategies, policies and initiatives for the exploitation of renewable bio-resources in selected sub-Saharan African countries.