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    Spanish company Ferry Group is to invest €42/US$55.2 million in a project for the production of biomass fuel pellets in Bulgaria. The 3-year project consists of establishing plantations of paulownia trees near the city of Tran. Paulownia is a fast-growing tree used for the commercial production of fuel pellets. Dnevnik - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Hungary's BHD Hõerõmû Zrt. is to build a 35 billion Forint (€138/US$182 million) commercial biomass-fired power plant with a maximum output of 49.9 MW in Szerencs (northeast Hungary). Portfolio.hu - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Tonight at 9pm, BBC Two will be showing a program on geo-engineering techniques to 'save' the planet from global warming. Five of the world's top scientists propose five radical scientific inventions which could stop climate change dead in its tracks. The ideas include: a giant sunshade in space to filter out the sun's rays and help cool us down; forests of artificial trees that would breath in carbon dioxide and stop the green house effect and a fleet futuristic yachts that will shoot salt water into the clouds thickening them and cooling the planet. BBC News - Feb. 19, 2007.

    Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Indonesia with Wilmar International Ltd. this year and a wholly owned biodiesel plant in Brazil before July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation's largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years. ADM was not immediately available to comment. Reuters - Feb. 16, 2007.

    Finnish engineering firm Pöyry Oyj has been awarded contracts by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to provide services for the first bioethanol plant in the Philippines. The aggregate contract value is EUR 10 million. The plant is to be build in the Province of San Carlos on the north-eastern tip of Negros Island. The plant is expected to deliver 120,000 liters/day of bioethanol and 4 MW of excess power to the grid. Kauppalehti Online - Feb. 15, 2007.

    In order to reduce fuel costs, a Mukono-based flower farm which exports to Europe, is building its own biodiesel plant, based on using Jatropha curcas seeds. It estimates the fuel will cut production costs by up to 20%. New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) - Feb. 12, 2007.

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to use 10% biodiesel in its fleet of public buses. The world's largest city is served by the Toei Bus System, which is used by some 570,000 people daily. Digital World Tokyo - Feb. 12, 2007.

    Fearing lack of electricity supply in South Africa and a price tag on CO2, WSP Group SA is investing in a biomass power plant that will replace coal in the Letaba Citrus juicing plant which is located in Tzaneen. Mining Weekly - Feb. 8, 2007.

    In what it calls an important addition to its global R&D capabilities, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is to build a new bioenergy research center in Hamburg, Germany. World Grain - Feb. 5, 2007.

    EthaBlog's Henrique Oliveira interviews leading Brazilian biofuels consultant Marcelo Coelho who offers insights into the (foreign) investment dynamics in the sector, the history of Brazilian ethanol and the relationship between oil price trends and biofuels. EthaBlog - Feb. 2, 2007.

    The government of Taiwan has announced its renewable energy target: 12% of all energy should come from renewables by 2020. The plan is expected to revitalise Taiwan's agricultural sector and to boost its nascent biomass industry. China Post - Feb. 2, 2007.

    Production at Cantarell, the world's second biggest oil field, declined by 500,000 barrels or 25% last year. This virtual collapse is unfolding much faster than projections from Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos. Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2007.

    Dubai-based and AIM listed Teejori Ltd. has entered into an agreement to invest €6 million to acquire a 16.7% interest in Bekon, which developed two proprietary technologies enabling dry-fermentation of biomass. Both technologies allow it to design, establish and operate biogas plants in a highly efficient way. Dry-Fermentation offers significant advantages to the existing widely used wet fermentation process of converting biomass to biogas. Ame Info - Jan. 22, 2007.

    Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is to build a biofuel production plant in the tribal belt of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. The petroleum company has acquired 20,000 hectares of low value land in the district, which it plans to commit to growing jatropha and other biofuel crops. The company's chairman said HPCL was also looking for similar wasteland in the state of Chhattisgarh. Zee News - Jan. 15, 2007.

    The Zimbabwean national police begins planting jatropha for a pilot project that must result in a daily production of 1000 liters of biodiesel. The Herald (Harare), Via AllAfrica - Jan. 12, 2007.

    In order to meet its Kyoto obligations and to cut dependence on oil, Japan has started importing biofuels from Brazil and elsewhere. And even though the country has limited local bioenergy potential, its Agriculture Ministry will begin a search for natural resources, including farm products and their residues, that can be used to make biofuels in Japan. To this end, studies will be conducted at 900 locations nationwide over a three-year period. The Japan Times - Jan. 12, 2007.

    Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint has launched an arrogant attack on "quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their attitudes to global warming, calling the Stern Review 'dubious'. The remarks illustrate the yawning gap between opinions on climate change among Europeans and Americans, but they also strengthen the view that announcements by US car makers and legislators about the development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing. Today, the EU announced its comprehensive energy policy for the 21st century, with climate change at the center of it. BBC News - Jan. 10, 2007.

    The new Canadian government is investing $840,000 into BioMatera Inc. a biotech company that develops industrial biopolymers (such as PHA) that have wide-scale applications in the plastics, farmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Plant-based biopolymers such as PHA are biodegradable and renewable. Government of Canada - Jan. 9, 2007.


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Friday, September 22, 2006

EU to subsidize energy crops further as biofuels production in Europe surges

The European Commission today proposed to extend the energy crop premium introduced by the 2003 Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform to the eight member states which currently do not benefit from it.

This would involve increasing the maximum area which can benefit from the aid to 2 million hectares from 1.5 million at present. In a further push to encourage the production of biomass feedstocks for renewable energy, the Commission also proposed allowing the member states to grant national aid of up to 50 percent of the costs of establishing multi-annual crops on areas on which an application for the energy crop aid has been made. In the interests of simplifying the management of the CAP, the Commission has also proposed to allow eight member states which joined the EU in 2004 to continue operating the so-called 'Single Area Payment Scheme' (SAPS) for a further two years until 2010. The countries affected are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

“We need to do all we can to encourage the production of the raw materials for biofuels,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development. “The energy crop scheme has had a good start. Now it’s only fair that we give farmers in all Member States the chance to benefit from this support. Extending the SAPS scheme also makes sense because it has proved a very simple and efficient method of supporting farmers in eight of the 10 countries which joined the EU in 2004. I am looking very closely at all possible ways of adding simplicity to the running of the CAP.”

The proposals accompany the first report on the operation of the energy crops scheme, which found the following:
  • The €45/hectare aid for energy crops was applied for the fist time in 2004 to provide an incentive for farmers to grow the raw materials for biofuels. The area for which the direct payment for energy crops was claimed was between 1.2 and 1.2 million hectares in 2006, close to the limit of 1.5million hectares.
  • The data on the development of bioethanol and biodiesel production as well as recently constructed capacities show a dramatic increase in the demand for energy crops within the next few years.
  • The aid for energy crops is an incentive for farmers to produce crops for energy, instead of crops for food. Such energy crops can be converted both into solid, liquid and gaseous biofuels. Currently, 8 of the 10 new member states which apply the SAPS are excluded from this aid for energy crops, while Malta and Slovenia may receive aid up to the "phasing-in" level only.
  • The review of the EU/CAP energy crops scheme has shown that it is appropriate to extend the aid for energy crops to all member states as from 2007 and under the same conditions. This way, the maximum guaranteed hectarage on which energy crops may be grown, should be increased proportionately.
  • The data available on biofuel consumption and national indicative targets for the EU-25 show that many new member states have adopted national measures (for example exemptions from excise duty) to suport the production and use of biofuels. These data show that new member states are making significant efforts to comply with the Biofuels Initiative and the Biofuels Directive.
  • To strengthen the role of multi-annual energy crops, the member states should be entitled to grant national aid of up to 50% of the costs associated with establishing such crops, for the areas that have been subject to an application for the CAP aid for energy crops.
In February, the Commission adopted an ambitious EU Strategy for Biofuels. Increased use of biofuels will bring numerous benefits, by reducing Europe’s dependence on fossil fuel imports, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, providing new outlets for farmers and opening up new economic possibilities in several developing countries:
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Todays’ proposal includes also improvements to certain rules governing direct payments, notably: (1) the possibility for the new Member States using SAPS to continue to use this simple way of granting income support to the farmers until the end of the year 2010, instead of 2008; from the start of 2009, farmers in the countries opting to continue this simplified direct aid scheme would have, as in other Member States, to comply under ‘cross-compliance’ with the statutory requirements in the areas of environment, public, animal and plant health and animal welfare to receive full payments under direct payment schemes and certain rural development measures; (2) the simplification of the eligibility rules under the single payment scheme for land with olive trees; (3) the clarification that the phasing-in of direct payments in the new Member States does not apply to all the direct payments related to the sugar regime.

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