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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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Monday, December 18, 2006

Florida, Brazil, IDB launch the Interamerican Ethanol Commission

Jeb Bush, governor of the State of Florida and a staunch advocate of lifting the US tariff on imported ethanol, Roberto Rodrigues, president of Brazil's Superior Council of Agribusiness of FIESP and former Minister of Agriculture, and Luis Alberto Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), announced the initiation of the Interamerican Ethanol Commission (official website). Bush, Rodrigues and Moreno will serve as co-chairs of the commission which has as its mission to promote the usage of ethanol in the gasoline pools of the Americas.

'Biopact' for the Western Hemisphere
Bush, Rodrigues, and Moreno discussed the main objectives of the commission, which include:
  • promoting increased ethanol blended fuel use throughout the region;
  • promoting the integration of technical and scientific research efforts across the hemisphere related to the production and distribution of ethanol;
  • determining investment needs in both agriculture and infrastructure to enable a hemispheric wide market for ethanol blended fuel;
  • determining the economic and environmental implications of carbon credits produced by the project;
  • encouraging the development of environmentally sound ethanol operations;
  • recommending a set of actions in order to create an international market for ethanol.
The commission will educate governments and legislatures throughout the hemisphere on ethanol through a series of "road shows." In addition to disseminating information, generating media coverage, and promoting public discussion of the benefits of ethanol, these road shows will secure partnerships from local officials and interested groups in order to expand ethanol usage and production for export.

Former Minister Rodrigues spoke of Brazil's role as a global leader in ethanol technology, production and distribution, pointing out that the country produces approximately 4 billion gallons of ethanol annually.
Brazil's ethanol capacities and technology position the nation to provide leadership throughout the hemisphere. Now, with the partnership of the State of Florida and the establishment of a formal forum of cooperation through the commission, countries throughout the Americas will benefit from the expansion of ethanol usage and production. -- Roberto Rodrigues, president of Brazil's Superior Council of Agribusiness of FIESP
Brazil is Florida's top trading partner, with two-way trade totaling 10.9 billon U.S. dollars in 2005. Governor Bush emphasized the potential role the committee can play in contributing to decreasing U.S. dependence on imported oil by means of diversifying the United States' fuel economy. He stated, "Through this commission, Florida has a great opportunity to be on the forefront of promoting an energy policy that strengthens our national security, stimulates economic development, increases protection for our environment and promotes free trade within the hemisphere."

'Poverty alleviation'
President Moreno's participation in and support for the Interamerican Ethanol Commission reflects his perspective that the commission will serve to spur economic development and to alleviate poverty in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

The three leaders agreed that cooperation on renewable energy has the potential to serve as a uniting force in the Americas, contributing toward economic growth and a cleaner environment. All three alluded to the significant opportunities expanded ethanol production holds for sustainable development and job creation throughout the Western Hemisphere:
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

The idea to form this commission grew out of a policy proposal Governor Bush submitted to Washington in April. His "Hemispheric Wide Approach to Ethanol," holds that the United States should adopt a bold initiative to pump 15 billion gallons of ethanol annually into the marketplace by 2015 ("15 by '15") -- nearly 10 percent of current national demand for gasoline and double the amount required by the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

The commission will serve to foster awareness of the benefits of renewable fuels in economies throughout the Americas and contribute toward a framework for a rationalized and viable regional marketplace in ethanol, promoting the policy guidance necessary to spur both foreign and domestic investment in renewable fuel production and infrastructure.

Rodrigues was joined by a distinguished Brazilian delegation that included Linneu Carlos da Costa Lima, Deputy Minister of Production and Agroenergy; Silvio Crestana, President of EMBRAPA; Eduardo de Carvalho, President of UNICA; Luis Custódio Cotta Martins, President of SINDAÇÚCAR - Minas Gerais; and Silas Oliva, Director of Petrobras.

Governor Bush was accompanied by several key board members and staff of Florida FTAA, including Ambassador Charles E. Cobb, Chairman of Florida FTAA; Brian C. Dean, Executive Director of Florida FTAA and the co-chairs of the Florida FTAA Ethanol Advocacy Committee: Jorge L. Arrizurieta, Chair, International Policy Group, Akerman Senterfitt; Dominique Virchaux, Managing Partner, Virchaux & Partners; and Mario Fernandez, President, COFE Properties, LLC.

President Moreno was joined by several key officials from the IDB, including senior staff of the bank's section for Alternative Sources of Energy. Additional attendees included corporate leaders, scientific experts, and other local government leaders.

In addition, the launch featured championship IndyCar driver Vitor Meira, senior IndyCar executives, including Vice President for League Development John Lewis, and the Indy Ethanol Show Car. IndyCar is leading motor-sports into a new era by adopting 100% ethanol as its fuel of choice for the 2007 racing season, which begins at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Saturday March 24. Both IndyCar and its racing partner the Ethanol Promotion and Information Council (EPIC) were honored at the launch with the 2007 Akerman Senterfitt Ethanol Innovator in Sports Award. According to IndyCar executives, "ethanol is less costly, better for the environment, and is a superior octane burner, actually increasing the speed and power the sport demands." Tom Slunecka, Executive Director of EPIC, commented that "the IndyCar Series choice of 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol...sends a message to consumers that performance and environmental responsibility go hand in hand when choosing ethanol-enriched fuel at the pump."

Brazil has been initiating a series of bilateral and multilateral exchanges with countries both in the North and in the Global South, aimed at creating a true commodity market for its ethanol. Such a market has the best chances of surviving when other producers emerge as genuine ethanol exporters. This is why Brazil has initiated technology transfers to Latin American and African countries (see our overview of biofuel agreements in the Global South, in which Brazil features prominently).

posted by Biopact team at 2:03 PM  

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