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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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Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Ghana's VP supports African biofuels fund

Ghana's Vice-President Alhaji Alui Mahama has pledged the government's support to efforts and initiatives aimed at creating a regional fund for the development and use of biofuels in place of fossil fuel in Africa.

In a speech read on his behalf by Professor Dominic Fobih, Minister of Lands, Forestry and Mines, at the opening of a two-day 'Regional Workshop on Financing Biofuels and Jathropha Plantation Projects with Special Emphasis on Clean Development Mechanisms' (earlier post), Vice-President Mahama noted that the dependence on fossil energy had burdened the economies of developing countries in Africa, while most of the continent's alternative energy resources remained unexploited. Indeed, a strong body of economic evidence shows the sensitivity of developing country economies to increased energy prices. In order to tackle this burden, 15 African countries recently united to form a "Green OPEC" of sorts, the PANPP (Pays Africains Non-Producteurs de Pétrole) aimed at joining forces for the development of a continent-wide biofuels industry to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels (earlier post).

Maham said even though Africa had a great potential (earlier post) and was well endowed with natural energy resources, investments on the continent for the development of renewable biofuels are still very small and need to be upped quickly. This is where the Biopact wants to be of assistance, by promoting the continent's potential in Europe.

The workshop in Accra is being organized by the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and sponsored by the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID). The workshop would culminate in the creation of a fund for investment into the expansion of jathropha plantations and the development of biofuels in West African states:
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Alhaji Aliu said jathropha plantations and their resultant bio energy development would go a long way to reduce the tax burdens that came with fossil fuel importation and consumption in African economies.

"Bio diesel extracted from jathropha could be used in running stationary engines like corn mills, irrigation pumps and cottage industries - the use of biodiesel in houses would reduce harmful carbon emissions that could cause respiratory problems," he said.

In a speech read for Mr Ernest Debrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, he noted that jathropha oils had an advantage over vegetable oil in terms of health and besides bio-fuels from jathropha would give African economies greater independence from the shocks of constantly fluctuating international crude oil prices.

Mr Abraham Dwumaa Odoom, Deputy Minister of Local Government, said large acreages of jathropha plantation could impact on climate change in a positive way and moreover bio fuel from jathropha would ease the burden on Ghana's hydro and thermal energy sources.

The workshop would streamline all successful initiatives, identify the role of stakeholders in development of the bio-fuel supply chain and consolidate strategies and adopt a regional approach for the promotion and development of bio-fuel in Africa.

Excerpts from a research by the Netherlands-based Fuels from Agriculture in Communal Technology (FACT) Foundation made available to the Ghana News Agency indicated that jathropha plantations had been identified as a major bio-fuel alternative for West African economies.

The research stated that to date, Brazil and Malaysia were world leaders in the cultivation of jathropha, which had several additional benefits, including cure for constipation (seeds) and malaria (leaves), healing for wounds (latex or sap).

It said the jathropha plant, besides being a major source of bio-fuel when processed, also served as an effective form of hedges around gardens, farms and fields to protect crops against roaming animals, as a wind and water shield and to reduce erosion.

The report also noted that an investment into jathropha plantation, especially in Africa promised to reduce unemployment among women because the oil from the seeds was also good for soap making.

"Although Malaysia and Brazil are the biggest investor destinations for the cultivation, production and processing of jathropha, investors will select the African region if production cost in West Africa is lower," the research said.


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