Peter BenHur O. Nyeko: Powering a Future of Hope

Biomass gasification is a renewable energy technique that efficiently converts agricultural waste into combustible fuel for clean energy production. One of its key advantages is carbon neutrality: biomass containing once-sequestered carbon undergoes partial combustion at approximately 900°C in a high-temperature gasifier, generating biochar and syngas which mainly consist of three gases namely: carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and methane. Furthermore, this energy-dense gas powers turbines (converts into liquid fuel) which generates electricity. In Uganda and beyond, this innovation proves that clean energy and rural economic development are not competing goals but are deeply and strongly interconnected.

“When I arrived back in my home country after many years away, I looked toward the first problem I saw there and decided that I would work on it.”

Peter BenHur Nyeko is a visionary entrepreneur, engineer, founder and managing director of Mandulis Energy Africa’s premier clean-tech company at the nexus of carbon dioxide removal and energy access. Driven by a firsthand understanding of the energy shortages and agricultural inefficiencies facing his community in Uganda, Peter returned home with a determination to build a business model which addresses the energy access trilemma of affordability, reliability, and sustainability concurrently. Peter’s work stands as a rare breed and a testament of a carbon removal solution that is technically sound, economically self-sustaining, and socially transformative.

Through Mandulis Energy, Peter has pioneered a functional circular business model that generates clean electricity, creates economic opportunities for smallholder farmers. His work has strategically positioned Mandulis Energy as a critical player in Africa's clean-tech future and a fascinating proof-of-concept for carbon removal in the Global South.

Mandulis Energy Circular Business Model: Tested and Proven

At the heart of its business model, Mandulis Energy aggregates agricultural commodities like maize, groundnuts, rice hulls, and shells from smallholder farmers across Uganda. The processed commodities are sold to consumer goods companies, strengthening local supply chains. What remains of the agricultural residues are fed into gasifiers to generate electricity for the national grid. This model is not a single-product solution, it is a system of intertwined tiers built for sustainable impact.

Tier 1: Power Generation Assets

●      Biomass Gasification: converting agricultural residues into clean, renewable energy through controlled partial combustion, producing syngas and biochar.

●      PV Panels and MiniGrid: deploying solar energy solutions for off-grid communities, extending electricity access beyond the national grid.

●      Combination of Modalities: ensuring energy security through hybrid biomass-solar systems that enables reliable, consistent, and dispatchable power.

Tier 2: Power Offtake Assets

●      Argo-Processing Hub and Briquette Factory: Supporting local farmers with value-added processing that converts raw agricultural output into sellable products, increasing household incomes.

●      Household Access to Energy: Providing affordable, reliable electricity to rural and peri-urban households historically excluded from the grid.

●      Charging Stations and Electric Tricycles: Enabling eco-friendly last-mile transport solutions that reduce emissions while lowering operating costs for rural entrepreneurs.

Tier 3: Value Addition Products

●      Clean Cooking Briquettes and Cookstoves: replacing traditional biomass burning with TLUD Tier 4 gasifier stoves that dramatically reduce indoor air pollution and deforestation.

●      Sustainable NPK Fertilizers from Biochar: transforming the carbon-rich by-product of gasification into high-value soil amendments that boost agricultural productivity and rebuild degraded soils.

●      Carbon Offsets and Removal Credits: monetizing biochar’s long-term carbon sequestration in the voluntary carbon market, making the entire system financially self-reinforcing.

Carbon Removal & Voluntary Market Integration

A crucial angel of Peter’s work is the integration of Voluntary Carbon Markets VCM into the Mandulis business model. Mandulis Energy monetizes the carbon sequestration potential of its biochar by-product, selling verified carbon removal credits to buyers seeking sustainable, measurable sequestration. A portion of the biochar is also sold as an input for fertilizer and cement production.

Impact & Reach

Where Mandulis Operates

●      Current Assets in Operation: Uganda

●      Assets in Development: South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria, Zambia, Spain

Measured Impact (per 500kW Mandulis Asset, Annually)

●      $4.8 million of positive impact on local society per year

●      3,800 tons of CO₂ saved annually through biochar sequestration and clean energy displacement

●      Average advancement of 0.2 grade level per child in surrounding communities a measurable proxy for the broader social uplift enabled by energy access

Peter’s Vision for the Future of Africa’s Clean-Tech

Peter BenHur Nyeko dreams of a future in which Africa leads the world in carbon removal and sustainable energy, not as a recipient of external climate finance, but as an originator of scalable, homegrown solutions. By unlocking voluntary carbon markets, building resilient local supply chains, and ensuring clean energy reaches the households who need it most, Peter is redefining what “climate action” looks like in a developing-world context.

His leadership of Mandulis Energy illustrates a principle that resonates strongly with the NCEC mission: durable carbon removal need not come at the expense of economic growth or social equity in fact; the most resilient carbon removal solutions may be precisely those that generate both. As Peter scales his model across sub-Saharan Africa and into international markets, his work offers a compelling blueprint for what truly integrated climate entrepreneurship can achieve.

Peter BenHur Nyeko’s work symbolizes an important convergence of engineering ingenuity, market innovation, and human-centered design. By transforming agricultural waste into treasure, clean energy, productive biochar, and verified carbon removal credits, he has built an operating system where every output becomes an input, and every stakeholder from smallholder farmers to global carbon markets can play a genuine role in solving the climate crisis. His story is a reminder that the future of carbon removal will be built not only in institutional laboratories and policy chambers but co-designed in the communities of those most ready to act.

More Info please visit: https://www.mandulisenergy.com/, LinkedIn, World Economic Forum