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Time for a New Biodiesel Policy in Brazil?
Friday, July 17th, 2009Luiz Prado says it’s time for Brazil to adopt a “serious” national policy on biodiesel. I think he has a point.
Brazil has had a biodiesel policy — er, make that a biodiesel program — since 2003. It has a number of elements, but the lynchpins are a blending mandate (currently set at B4), and a [...]
The Status of Global Renewables
Saturday, May 16th, 2009The Vienna, Austria-based Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21) has just released its latest review of the global state of adoption of renewable energy sources — solar (both photovoltaics and passive systems, such as solar water heaters), wind, geothermal, wave, biofuels and small hydro (REN21 excludes large hydropower projects from its review). [...]
FAO: Bioenergy Can Benefit Rural Poor / La bioenergía puede beneficiar a los pobres rurales
Wednesday, April 8th, 2009The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released a study showing that bioenergy projects can benefit the rural poor. The study looks at 15 case studies in 12 nations in six regions of Africa, Asia and Latin America to examine the impacts that different types of local level Bioenergy initiatives can have on [...]
Jamaica Opts for Biofuels
Thursday, March 12th, 2009From the Ministry of Energy:
JAMAICA MOVES TO DEVELOP BIOFUELS INDUSTRY
Coming on the heels of the successful implementation of E10, the Ministry of Energy is moving to introduce a blend of motorgrade diesel fuel from locally grown plants such as castor beans and jatropha. This is the word from Energy Minister, Clive Mullings who was speaking [...]
Colombia Invites Japanese to Build More Biodiesel Plants
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009When Colombian President Uribe visited a plant built in Santa Maria, Magdalena, to process palm oil for biodiesel production yesterday, he not only thanked the Japanese company Odin Energy for their investment in the plant (completed a year ago), but urged them to build another. Uribe appears convinced that Colombia has a bright future as [...]
Toward a Sustainable Energy Matrix for Peru? / ¿Hasta nueva matriz de energía sostenible en el Perú?
Wednesday, January 28th, 2009Because of their choice of headline (“IDB Support Creation of New Sustainable Energy Matrix in Peru”), most readers of the IDB’s press release on this loan might come away with the impression that the loan is mostly about the promotion of non-traditional renewable energy sources (wind power, small hydro, geothermal) and bioenergy.
Read between the lines, [...]
Brazil Sets New Records for Ethanol and Biodiesel
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009The Brazilian government reports that its consumption and exports of ethanol set new records in 2008, as did the consumption and production of biodiesel.
According to figures released by the Renewable Fuels Department of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), Brazil produced 24.5 billion liters of ethanol in 2008, and exported 5.16 billion. The principal [...]
Nova Rede Brasileira de Pesquisa Sobre a Cadeia Produtiva do Biodiesel
Tuesday, November 4th, 2008Desde o Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq):
Pesquisadores criam rede de pesquisa sobre a cadeia produtiva do biodiesel
Biodiesel é um combustível obtido de misturas em diferentes proporções de diesel fóssil e alquilésteres de óleos vegetais ou gorduras animais, segundo a definição do Programa Brasileiro de Biodiesel. Este combustível, obtido com misturas nas proporções [...]
FAO Calls for Review of the Risks & Opportunities of Biofuels / La FAO pide nueva revista de los riesgos y oportunidades de los biocombustibles
Tuesday, October 7th, 2008From the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
Annual report weighs opportunities and risks of biofuels
Biofuel policies and subsidies should be urgently reviewed in order to preserve the goal of world food security, protect poor farmers, promote broad-based rural development and ensure environmental sustainability, FAO said today in a new edition of its annual flagship publication [...]
The CEC’s “Annotated Bibliography” on Environmental Impacts of Biofuels
Sunday, October 5th, 2008Normally I would not stick an annotated bibliography in the Temas Recommended Reading List, much less do a review of the “bibliography.” But the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC) recently released an “Annotated Bibliography on the Environmental Effects of Biofuels” that I find a bit unusual and noteworthy.
It’s more like a review of [...]