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    One of India's largest sugar companies, the Birla group will invest 8 billion rupees (US$187 million) to expand sugar and biofuel ethanol output and produce renewable electricity from bagasse, to generate more revenue streams from its sugar business. Reuters India - April 9, 2007.

    An Iranian firm, Mashal Khazar Darya, is to build a cellulosic ethanol plant that will utilise switchgrass as its feedstock at a site it owns in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The investment is estimated to be worth €112/US$150 million. The plant's capacity will be 378 million liters (100 million gallons), supplied by switchgrass grown on 4400 hectares of land. PressTv (Iran) - April 9, 2007.

    The Africa Power & Electricity Congress and Exhibition, to take place from 16 - 20 April 2007, in the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg, South Africa, will focus on bioenergy and biofuels. The Statesman - April 7, 2007.

    Petrobras and Petroecuador have signed a joint performance MOU for a technical, economic and legal viability study to develop joint projects in biofuel production and distribution in Ecuador. The project includes possible joint Petroecuador and Petrobras investments, in addition to qualifying the Ecuadorian staff that is directly involved in biofuel-related activities with the exchange of professionals and technical training. PetroBras - April 5, 2007.

    The Société de Transport de Montréal is to buy 8 biodiesel-electric hybrid buses that will use 20% less fuel and cut 330 tons of GHG emissions per annum. Courrier Ahuntsic - April 3, 2007.

    Thailand mandates B2, a mixture of 2% biodiesel and 98% diesel. According to Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand, the mandate comes into effect by April next year. Bangkok Post - April 3, 2007.

    In what is described as a defeat for the Bush administration, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled [*.pdf] today that environmental officials have the power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that spur global warming. By a 5-4 vote, the nation's highest court told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide and other emissions from new cars and trucks that contribute to climate change. Reuters - April 2, 2007.

    Goldman Sachs estimates that, in the absence of current trade barriers, Latin America could supply all the ethanol required in the US and Europe at a cost of $45 per barrel – just over half the cost of US-made ethanol. EuroToday - April 2, 2007.

    The Kauai Island Utility Cooperative signed a long-term purchase power agreement last week with Green Energy Team, LLC. The 20-year agreement enables KIUC to purchase power from Green Energy's proposed 6.4 megawatt biomass-to-energy facility, which will use agricultural waste to generate power. Honolulu Advertiser - April 2, 2007.

    The market trend to heavier, more powerful hybrids is eroding the fuel consumption advantage of hybrid technology, according to a study done by researchers at the University of British Columbia. GreenCarCongress - March 30, 2007.

    Hungarian privately-owned bio-ethanol project firm Mabio is planning to complete an €80-85 million ethanol plant in Southeast Hungary's Csabacsud by end-2008. Onet/Interfax - March 29, 2007.

    Energy and engineering group Abengoa announces it has applied for planning permission to build a bioethanol plant in north-east England with a capacity of about 400,000 tonnes a year. Reuters - March 29, 2007.

    The second European Summer School on Renewable Motor Fuels will be held in Warsaw, Poland, from 29 to 31 August 2007. The goal of the event is to disseminate the knowledge generated within the EU-funded RENEW (Renewable Fuels for Advanced Powertrains) project and present it to the European academic audience and stakeholders. Topics on the agenda include generation of synthetic gas from biomass and gas cleaning; transport fuel synthesis from synthetic gas; biofuel use in different motors; biomass potentials, supply and logistics, and technology, cost and life-cycle assessment of BtL pathways. Cordis News - March 27, 2007.

    Green Swedes want even more renewables, according to a study from Gothenburg University. Support for hydroelectricity and biofuels has increased, whereas three-quarters of people want Sweden to concentrate more on wind and solar too. Swedes still back the nuclear phase-out plans. The country is Europe's largest ethanol user. It imports 75% of the biofuel from Brazil. Sveriges Radio International - March 27, 2007.

    Fiat will launch its Brazilian-built flex-fuel Uno in South Africa later this year. The flex-fuel Uno, which can run on gasoline, ethanol or any combination of the two fuels, was displayed at the Durban Auto Show, and is set to become popular as South Africa enters the ethanol era. Automotive World - March 27, 2007.

    Siemens Power Generation (PG) is to supply two steam turbine gensets to a biomass-fired plant in Três Lagoas, 600 kilometers northwest of São Paulo. The order, valued at €22 million, was placed by the Brazilian company Pöyry Empreendimentos, part of VCP (Votorantim Celulose e Papel), one of the biggest cellulose producers in the Americas. PRDomain - March 25, 2007.

    Asia’s demand for oil will nearly double over the next 25 years and will account for 85% of the increased demand in 2007, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) officials forecast yesterday at a Bangkok-hosted energy conference. Daily Times - March 24, 2007.

    Portugal's government expects total investment in biomass energy will reach €500 million in 2012, when its target of 250MW capacity is reached. By that date, biomass will reduce 700,000 tonnes of carbon emissions. By 2010, biomass will represent 5% of the country's energy production. Forbes - March 22, 2007.

    The Scottish Executive has announced a biomass action plan for Scotland, through which dozens of green energy projects across the region are set to benefit from an additional £3 million of funding. The plan includes greater use of the forestry and agriculture sectors, together with grant support to encourage greater use of biomass products. Energy Business Review Online - March 21, 2007.

    The U.S. Dep't of Agriculture's Forest Service has selected 26 small businesses and community groups to receive US$6.2 million in grants from for the development of innovative uses for woody biomass. American Agriculturalist - March 21, 2007.

    Three universities, a government laboratory, and several companies are joining forces in Colorado to create what organizers hope will be a major player in the emerging field of converting biomass into fuels and other products. The Colorado Center for Biorefining & Biofuels, or C2B2, combines the biofuels and biorefining expertise of the University of Colorado, Colorado State University, the Colorado School of Mines, and the Colorado-based National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Founding corporate members include Dow Chemical, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Shell. C&EN - March 20, 2007.

    The city of Rome has announced plans to run its public bus fleet on a fuel mix of 20 per cent biodiesel. The city council has signed an accord that would see its 2800 buses switch to the blended fuel in order to cut greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution. A trial of 200 buses, if successful, would see the entire fleet running on the biofuel mix by the end of 2008. Estimates put the annual emission savings at 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. CarbonPositive - March 19, 2007.

    CODON (Dutch Biotech Study Association) organises a symposium on the 'Biobased Economy' in Wageningen, Netherlands, home of one of Europe's largest agricultural universities. In a biobased economy, chemistry companies and other non-food enterprises primarily use renewable materials and biomass as their resources, instead of petroleum. The Netherlands has the ambition to have 30% of all used materials biobased, by 2030. FoodHolland - March 19, 2007.

    Energy giants BP and China National Petroleum Corp, the PRC's biggest oil producer, are among the companies that are in talks with Guangxi Xintiande Energy Co about buying a stake in the southern China ethanol producer to expand output. Xintiande Energy currently produces ethanol from cassava. ChinaDaily - March 16, 2007.

    Researchers at eTEC Business Development Ltd., a biofuels research company based in Vienna, Austria, have devised mobile facilities that successfully convert the biodiesel by-product glycerin into electricity. The facilities, according to researchers, will provide substantial economic growth for biodiesel plants while turning glycerin into productive renewable energy. Biodiesel Magazine - March 16, 2007.

    Ethanol Africa, which plans to build eight biofuel plants in the maize belt, has secured funding of €83/US$110 million (825 million Rand) for the first facility in Bothaville, its principal shareholder announced. Business Report - March 16, 2007.

    A joint venture between Energias de Portugal SGPS and Altri SGPS will be awarded licences to build five 100 MW biomass power stations in Portugal's eastern Castelo Branco region. EDP's EDP Bioelectrica unit and Altri's Celulose de Caima plan to fuel the power stations with forestry waste material. Total investment on the programme is projected at €250/US$333 million with 800 jobs being created. Forbes - March 16, 2007.

    Indian bioprocess engineering firm Praj wins €11/US$14.5 million contract for the construction of the wheat and beet based bio-ethanol plant for Biowanze SA in Belgium, a subsidiary of CropEnergies AG (a Sudzucker Group Company). The plant has an ethanol production capacity of 300,000 tons per year. IndiaPRWire - March 15, 2007.

    Shimadzu Scientific Instruments announced the availability of its new white paper, “Overview of Biofuels and the Analytical Processes Used in their Manufacture.” The paper is available for free download at the company’s website. The paper offers an overview of the rapidly expanding global biofuel market with specific focus on ethanol and biodiesel used in auto transportation. It provides context for these products within the fuel market and explains raw materials and manufacturing. Most important, the paper describes the analytical processes and equipment used for QA testing of raw materials, in-process materials, and end products. BusinessWire - March 15, 2007.

    Côte d'Ivoire's agriculture minister Amadou Gon has visited the biofuels section of the Salon de l'Agriculture in Paris, one of the largest fairs of its kind. According to his communication office, the minister is looking into drafting a plan for the introduction of biofuels in the West African country. AllAfrica [*French] - March 13, 2007.


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Monday, January 29, 2007

Lula in Davos: wealthy countries should invest in biofuels in poor countries

Milton Maciel, a former government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture in Brazil’s northeastern state of Alagoas, one of Brazil’s main ethanol-producing regions, has recently launched Biofuels Now, an excellent resource on the Brazilian ethanol experience. Together with Henrique Oliveira's Ethablog and Marcelo Acuña Coelho's EthanolBrasil, we now have a network of expert analysts who track and translate the world's leading biofuel producer's rising influence in the post-oil world.

Lula in Davos
They report that Brazil's president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, that his country volunteers to transfer technology for production of biodiesel and ethanol to poorer countries, most of them in Africa and Central America, for free.

Speaking at the WEF, Lula suggested that rich countries should finance such kind of projects in countries in development, as a form of reducing inequality in the world.
“Biodiesel generates employment, generates income, generates development. Our biofuels program could be an example to be financed by rich nations to poorer nations of Africa and Central America” - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Reviving Doha
The left-leaning president has long been a symbol of the WEF's counterpart, the World Social Forum (WSF), which strives towards the establishment of an economic world order more in tune with the needs of the poorer countries. His presence in Davos is seen by some within the WSF community as betrayal. But Lula refuses to be pinned down by either camp and prefers a pragmatic approach to global problems. In Davos, he called on rich nations not to hold back the developing world by lack of flexibility on global trade talks. Trade ministers from about 30 countries have converged there to try to breathe life into the flagging Doha Round of World Trade Organization negotiations.

Developing nations have claimed aspects of the talks, including issues of trade tariffs, may hurt the world's poorest. The Doha Development Agenda was launched in 2001. But the talks have foundered on a number of points and have repeatedly stalled over the past few years. Developing nations believe that the EU and US must cut agricultural subsidies if progress is to be made. At the same time, the EU and US want big developing nations, such as Brazil and India, to open up their fast-growing markets in industrial goods and services. Lula said Brazil was ready to make concessions if Europe and the US were prepared to move too.
"We are fighting... to make rich countries aware that if there is no deal on the Doha Round, there will be no point in blaming things on Iraq, or thinking that they can resolve wars by giving out financial help every now and again. It's the possibility of growth, creating jobs and distributing wealth that will create a peaceful world." - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
The trade ministers present at the forum have meanwhile agreed to revive the talks.

Making the link between biofuels and Doha
One of the main subjects discussed in Davos was global warming, caused principally by combustion of fossil fuels. Biodiesel and ethanol, if produced under economic and environmentally sustainable conditions, are a viable alternative to those fossil fuels. According to Maciel, tropical countries are exactly the countries who have the best conditions to accomplish such a sustainable and commercially viable production:
:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Biofuels Now reports that Lula linked the biofuels opportunity to the trade negotiations, by stating that the USA, instead of producing ethanol from corn, could save much money if it decided to finance and acquire biofuel production from the poorest countries, which would mean a boost to trade and a possibility to lift the trade barriers and subsidies which currently protect the uncompetitive corn ethanol industry.

Maciel sees this as a much better alternative to continue importing oil from potentially hostile suppliers, an alternative not only with lower costs, but also without the burden of oil wars costs. And an alternative that, promoting some substantial development in biofuels producing countries, could not only reduce somewhat the terrible inequalities, but would also lessen the migratory pressure from those countries to USA, Canada and EU.

This is also the thesis of Biofuels Now: "A great number of poor countries in Africa and elsewhere have good environmental conditions that favor the development of sustainable biofuels industries and this could prove of great value for their development in the verge of Peak Oil. We partake completely the Brazilian government policy of taking biofuels technology to many other countries in the world. These countries have available soils, water, cheap land and labor; and also much, much poverty."

2 Comments:

Ethanol Brasil said...

Laurens, há uma incorreção na matéria sobre quem é o administrador do Ethanol Brasil.

11:32 AM  
Biopact team said...

Ah, sim, desculpe, já corrigi o erro, Marcelo.
Cumprimentos energéticos,
Laurens

12:24 AM  

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