The Twifo Atti-Morkwa District is determined to become the West African industrial hub for the processing of Palm Kernel Shell (PKS) into biomass for exports.
Reeling on the agrarian local economy, Mr Robert Agyemang Nyantekyi, the District Chief Executive (DCE), said the district had sustained the cultivation of huge oil palm plantations supporting the livelihood of more than 85,000 people in about 180 communities.
He told the Ghana News Agency that the intervention would give strong boost to the national industrialisation drive through the ‘One District, One Factory’ programme.
With a high annual population growth rate of 3.1 per cent with about 50.8 per cent being women, the Assembly hoped to provide the necessary congenial atmosphere for job creation for the teeming unemployed youth.
Mr Nyantekyi explained that the processing of PKS as a renewable energy source had not been adequately explored in Ghana for suitability of biomass, touted as clean, affordable and capable of giving better combustion.
He said biomass residue from palm oil industry were attractive renewable energy fuel in Southeast Asia and aided the fast development of the palm oil industry in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand for bitumen.
Also, compared to other residues from the industry, he stated that PKS was a good quality biomass fuel with uniform size distribution, easy handling, easy crushing, and limited biological activity due to low moisture content.
In the palm oil value chain, he said, there were overall surplus of by-products and the utilisation rate of by-products, adding that: “The moisture content in kernel shells is low compared to other biomass residues with different sources.”
“Press fibre and kernel shell generated by the palm oil mills are traditionally used as solid fuels for steam boilers to run turbines for electricity production. These two solid fuels alone can generate more than enough energy to meet the energy demands of a palm oil mill.”
“The demand for PKS have increased considerably in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand resulting in price close to that of coal. Nowadays, cement industries are using palm kernel shells to replace coal,” Mr Nyantekyi said.
Additionally, he said, the problems associated with the burning of solid fuels were the emissions of dark smoke and the carry-over of partially carbonized fibrous particulates due to incomplete combustion of the fuels, which could be tackled by commercially-proven technologies in the form of high-pressure boilers.
Touching on the tourism and hospitality industry, he lauded the immeasurable contributions the Kakum National Park Canopy Walkways had made to the growth of tourism, which was the most preferred tourism destination in the country.
He mentioned the Oven Cottage at Canaan, a community in the Area, a natural footbridge on river Pra at Tofoi, an umbrella-like rock at Nuamakrom, and the Ancestral Cave at Mintaso as some of the untapped tourism sites in the area.
He welcomed all investors to the district and assured them of their safety, urging them to invest in agro-processing, soap making, cocoa processing, banking and minerals explorations in the area.
Ashantibiz
