Improving Water Supply and Sanitation Services for the Urban Poor
Thursday, August 20th, 2009I’ve discussed in the past here on The Temas Blog some of the challenges Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) faces in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for water supply and sanitation (here, here, here and here), particularly in providing these services to the region’s poor. The Water and Sanitation Programme (WSP), a multi-donor […]
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. […]
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 […]
When is a Biogas Subsidy an Incineration Subsidy?
Monday, March 19th, 2007Recently a notice was forwarded to me about public hearings in Brazil on giving special breaks to projects that tap landfills for biogas to generate electricity. Well, if you've read this blog long you probably realized by now that anything having to do with waste interests me, so no surprise that I looked into it. […]
A Sustainable Biofuels Policy for Chile?
Monday, March 19th, 2007I scribbled some notes on this story when the report was first released in late January. But when I could not get back to finishing and publishing it right away, I thought about just dropping it because I half-expected President Bachelet to act on it quickly. Instead she appears to be holding off, digesting it […]
A Sustainable Energy Plan for Brazil?
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006The Government’s Energy Vision Last Wednesday Brazil’s Energy Research Corporation (EPE) released the National Energy Plan 2030, the government’s blueprint for energy development for the next 24 years. The EPE is a subsidiary of the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), charged with energy planning. The principal theme of the plan can be found in […]
Changes in the Wind in LAC
Thursday, October 19th, 2006I’ve been working on pulling together a more complete picture of the role of wind power — potential, present status and future prospects — for the nations of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). It has been a surprisingly challenging task. I found and posted the various wind energy potential maps. I have included in […]