Abstract
Invasive and encroaching (IE) species have posed a threat to biodiversity in ecosystems, rangeland productivity, groundwater generation, the environment and economy is savannah ecosystems like Botswana and Namibia. While de- bushing of large diameter stocks have yielded huge economic returns for countries like Namibia through a lucrative charcoal and fuelwood or chips, smaller diameter ones usually have no economic value, especially shrubs that encroach space in cities and towns. The goal of this study is to explore possible means of deriving economic value from the encroachers, which are currently disadvantaging Botswana through reduced rangeland productivity and de-bushing costs. Pyrolysis has received attention as a potentially low cost thermochemical method that can efficiently utilize such lignocellulosic residues. The primary goal is to use the bio-oil in stationary engine applications for power generation, especially in remote areas of sparsely populated Botswana, where it has been deemed uneconomic to connect them to the national grid...