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Loading ...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 […]
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 […]
Brazil Now Third Largest Biodiesel Producer
Sunday, August 24th, 2008Synopsis in English: The Brazilian Presidency proudly proclaims that Brazil is now the third largest producer of biodeisel behind Germany and the US. Brazil now has 41 biodiesel production plants in commercial operation and 52 plants in the process of getting authorization from the National Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuel Agency (Agência Nacional de Petróleo, […]
Colombian Palm Oil Industry Opts for Path to Certified Sustainable
Thursday, July 17th, 2008Last week the group representing Colombia’s palm oil business, the National Federation of Palm Oil Growers (Federación Nacional de Cultivadores de Palma de Aceite – Fedepalma), announced their adherence to the Principles and Criteria of the Zurich-based Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The RSPO arose from a concept first proposed by WWF in 2001. […]
Costa Rica’s Biofuel Program
Friday, June 6th, 2008Costa Rica has committed itself to a full roll-out of ethanol blended gasoline and biodiesel by October of this year. The ethanol will be sourced from sugarcane (using Brazilian tech) and blended at the El Alto plant of the state-owned refinery in charge of the implementation of the biofuel program, Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo, S.A. […]
Amazonas “Visionary” on Climate Change?
Friday, September 7th, 2007In June Amazonas became the first Brazilian state to adopt a state law on climate change, together with one creating a State System of Conservation Units (UCs). The laws were widely praised by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on environment and conservation issues. A Greenpeace spokesman even declared them to be “almost visionary, but perfectly capable […]
Sustainable Agriculture as a Key to Protecting the Mesoamerican Reef
Wednesday, June 20th, 2007Synopsis in English: WWF has concluded an agreement with major Honduran producers of palm oil — specifically Palmas de San Alejo and AGROTOR, subsidiaries of the JAREMAR Group — to adopt specified good agricultural management practices in order to reduce the impact their production has on the nearby huge Mesoamerican Reef (MAR). The agreement has […]
ECLAC/FAO: Bioenergy Poses Both Risks and Opportunities / CEPAL/FAO: Bioenergía Ofrece Oportunidades y Riesgos
Wednesday, May 9th, 2007The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC, known in Spanish as CEPAL) have just released a joint “study” (actually more of a short analysis with recommendations) on the potential impacts of bioenergy production on food security for consideration by the FAO’s Committee […]
An IDB-Sponsored “Blueprint for Green Energy in the Americas”
Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007At the briefing on the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) biofuel investment plans for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the Bank finally released the study it commissioned from consultant Garten Rothkopf on biofuels entitled “A Blueprint for Green Energy in the Americas.” To download the various portions of the study, follow this link. I confess […]
IDB Targets $3bn for Biofuels / BID apoyará proyectos de biocombustibles con US$3.000 millones / BID apóia projetos de biocombustíveis com US$3 bilhões
Monday, April 2nd, 2007From the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB): IDB targets $3 billion in Private Sector Biofuel Projects President Moreno announces planned investments in ethanol and biodiesel production, technical assistance for Central American countries, and a $300 million Green Energy Program Calling biofuels a “transformative opportunity” for Latin America and the Caribbean, IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno detailed […]