As they informed from the brazilian government the reedbeds sowed to obtain ethanol, would not be dangerous. Agency APÂ

The expansion of the reedbeds in Brazil to satisfy the growing demand of ethanol in the world won’t damage the Amazonas rainforest, said on Monday a high employee of the government. Â

In declarations at the beginning of a five days international conference on biofuels, the government’s general secretary, Dilma Rousseff, said that the country will announce a plan of agricultural areas very soon to specify where the cane can be cultivated, both for sugar or energy generating. Â

The Amazonia and other well-known regions for their wide range of animal species and of plants would be excluded. But Brazil will encourage the expansion of the ethanol production to other parts and in poor countries of the world in wich the climate is favorable for the cultivation.Â

“It is a socioeconomic reality”, Rousseff said. “It generates works and revenues, mostly in tropical countries.”Â

Rousseff also said that the expansion of the ethanol won’t compete with the production of foods in Brazil, and that space exists for other crops, including soya and corn.Â
Although the reedbeds cover 4,2 million hectares of Brazilian lands now, the minister said that that represents less than 1% of the national territory and that abundant available land exists outside of the protected areas.Â

Rousseff said that Brazil should “put an end to the myth that the cane fields are invading the Amazonia”, but the critics say that there are already cane plantations in the region and that some plan to expand. They also denounce that the conversion of grass lands and soya fields to reedbeds are displacing soya farmers and cattlemen that in turn settle down in deforested areas of the forest.Â

Rousseff said that the government of Brazil is prepared to help to the big ethanol producers that suffer because of the global credit crisis.Â

The ethanol producers were among those that could receive help when the government announced thousands of millions of dollars recently in lines of emergency credit for the companies affected by the crisis.Â

Source: La Voz

The high specialization and professionalism of Expobioenergía has transformed it into the  sector´s annual appointment and so is it shown by the numbers that have been mentioned during its third edition. Â

Expobioenergía.08 reached the foreseen objectives and it attracted a total of 13.186 visitors, 40% more than in the previous edition. This fact, next to the high grade of satisfaction shown by the exhibitors makes Expobioenergía become again the obliged appointment of the bioenergy sectorduring 2009. Â

Expobioenergía in its third edition has been able to consolidate and has become the biggest European encounter in the sector of the bioenergy, being able to highlight regarding to other events of similar characteristic by its high specialization level, the high number of exhibitors and represented trademarks (a total of 424), the number of professional visitors and the numerous complementary activities that are developed around this fair.Â

The companies of the sector that are interested in participating in Expobioenergía.09 can already reserve space and profit from the different discounts if they do their inscription before December 19th.Â

Cesefor and Avebiom, organizers of Expobioenergía, will maintain during 2009 the objective, that since its first edition was set: to promote the bioenergy and to generate an outline of experiences exchange among companies and professionals of the sector.Â

Source: Expobioenergía/ María Castañeda

The next leader has a plan for the rural communities of his country. Here, the main points. Â

The elected president of the United States, Barack Obama, and its co-equiper, vice-president Joe Biden, are already working in what they have denominated the “Plan of Support to the Rural Communities.” Â

To guarantee economic opportunities to the establishments of family nature is one of the objectives that heads the list of the next leader, according to his platform.

That will be made by means of a strong safety net, with rural programs that offer stability and predictability. In this line, Obama will apply a limit of payments of US $250.000 to help the family producers. The big agribusiness would be left outside, being eliminated the procedures that allow the big farmers to avoid those limits subdividing their operations in multiple fictitious companies.Â

Also, Obama will reinforce the antitrust law and the protection measures to the producer to guarantee to the independent farmers an equitable access to the markets, the control on its production decisions and the transparency of the prices. The CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations o feedlots) will also be regulated. The Agency of Environmental Protection of Obama will dictate strict norms about the contamination that these big feedlots produce and it will apply fines to those that don’t respect the demanded levels.Â

The energy efficiency will be common to fulfill a very interesting goal: to reduce the energy consumption in USA in 50% by 2030. In this line, Obama assured that he will dedicate considerable economic resources to develop the next generation of “biofuels” and highlighted that the sustainability and the conservation of the natural resources, as the floor and the water will be guaranteed. One of the objectives is that 2 billion gallons of cellulose ethanol enter to the system by 2013 (1 gallon = almost 4 liters).Â

In this line, Obama will make sure that the rural areas maintain their leadership in renewable fuels, since they are under conditions of producing and refining more biofuels and generating more wind power than ever.Â

He will also propitiate the implementation of the Origin Country Labels that the farmers can differentiate their products of the imported ones. Also, he will foment the organic and local agriculture – helping the organic farmers to certify their cultivations and with the crop insurance -, as well as the regional systems of foods.Â

Inside the plan, the incentives will be reinforced so that everyone practices a sustainable agriculture and protects the humid lands, those of shepherding and the forests. The development of the small and microenterprises is another strong point: the farmers will be helped so that they can create companies that add value, as cooperative and processing-plants of their property. Obama also points to the improvement in the rural areas life quality: in sanitary attention, rural education and infrastructure.

By Liliana CobeloÂ

Source: Clarín/Suplemento Rural
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Many agricultural products can be transformed into raw materials for the production of alternative fuels. Now an analysis by scientifics of the Agricultural Research (ARS) indicates that the agricultural products can be used this way without reducing the food supply, the capacity of the floor to produce cultivations, or the environment quality of USA.Â

The scientists of the ARS are collaborating with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to evaluate the economic production impact of these raw materials. In places in all USA, the scientists of the ARS are evaluating how the singular and combined handling decisions influence in different agricultural production systems.Â

In a cooperative study, scientific of the ARS in Oregon and Texas are matching two biophysical models to evaluate the impact in the environment of land handling practices in big and complex basins during a long period of time. This evaluation will also keep in mind the effects of different floor types and the conditions of use and handling of the land.Â

The first model, called CQUESTR, simulates changes in the quantity of the organic carbon of the floor based on such factors as the climate, the farming quantity, the cultivation rotations and the elimination of cultivation residuals. With this model’s incorporation in another model call the Soil Water and Assessment Tool (SWAT), the floor scientists Hero T. Gollany and the agricultural engineer Jeffrey G. Arnold can predict the influence of handling practices of the land in the quantity of the organic carbon of the floor, the organic matter of the floor, the water, the silt, and the accumulation of agricultural chemical products.Â

Gollany works in the The Columbia Plateau Conservation Research Center maintained by the ARS in Pendleton, Oregon, and Arnold works in the Grassland Soil and Water Research Laboratory maintained by the ARS in Temple, Texas.

Another model, called PGA-BIOECON, calculates variations among three important objectives: the profitability, the water quality, and the production effectiveness. The hydrologist Gerald Whittaker who works in the Forage Seed and Cereal Research maintained by the ARS in Corvallis, Oregon, helped to develop the pattern. Since the pattern can work in many scales and with multiple objectives, its results provides information for a diverse group of users, individual farmers and the people that establish the national policies.Â

The model of Whittaker projects information about a variety of complex factors, providing data that could allow the users to make the best handling decisions in order to achieve their objectives.Â

Read more on this investigation in the ‘Agricultural Research ‘ magazine of October 2008.¼br /> ARS is a scientific investigations agency of the USDA.Â

By Laura McGuinnisÂ

Source: ARS USDA

In recent years we have seen a fast increase in the prices of the petroleum barrel, what has had a cascade effect in the prices of most of the products of the consumers. This largely is due to that the petroleum is primarily the main source of raw material for many products. Other reasons given in the public debate is the growth of CHINDIA (China and India), speculation in the stock exchange, uncertainty in the Half East, Venezuela and Chávez, predictions of locations, among others.Â

The biofuels is combustible derived of alive beings or of the waste that these produce. These include Solids (Wood, straw, etc.), Biogas from excrements/waste, and Liquids (bioethanol, biobuthanol, biodiesel, etc.) derived of the compounds of the plants (starch, lignocellulose, oils, etc.). Based in this definition the biofuels has been used for centuries, a lot before the petroleum became the main source of the element carbon (C) in our lives. Â

To these in english are referred the 6 F; “Food, Fuel, Feed, Feedstock, Fertilizer, Fiber”. All these contain the coal element in their chemical structures. This implies that the debate of the biofuels (“Food versus Fuel”) is much more complex and has to include the other remaining F. This complexity points to that any strategy of the agricultural sector that is interested to implant in Puerto Rico HAS to consider crops able to assist multiple sectors.

The agriculture will become the primary raw material source for the carbon derived products. Also, the use of the land will compete with other basic necessities and potential uses as residences, ecological reservations, free-time places and entertainment, commercial/industrial establishments and energy generation by means of sustainable energy technology. Not less important are the supplies and necessities of waters for all these sectors which adds another level of complexity to this discussion.Â

Based on the above-mentioned some strategies for the installation of this technology in Puerto Rico can be concluded and recommended:Â

1) First, there is not a magic wand, divine harvests or unique strategy that will be able to solve all or not even one of our necessities. All the proposed solutions should consider and integrate not only their technical aspects but also the social and economic and social dynamics.Â

2) Puerto Rico should consider the model of the Regional Biorefineries in its strategies. The Biorefineries are facilities that integrate processes and equipments to convert the biomass into multiple products, for example: foods, fuel, power and chemists. It is basically a refinery except that instead of using petroleum as raw material it would use all the components of the agricultural plants as carbon sources. This includes the leaves and stems that is known as lignocellulosic material the same as the sugars and starches that would be used for the food. At the moment, of each 5 pounds of crop only 1 to 2 are used for food, the rest is lignocellulosic biomass that can be processed in a biorefinery.Â

3) The crops that are chosen should not only assist the necessities of the 6 F, but they should also have high productivities. The microalgaes is a vegetable species that is able to satisfy some of these requirements. For example, its growth and chemical products production surpasses any terrestrial crop by factors bigger than 20. These studies were carried out by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) of the Department of Federal Energy in the 1980-90 under the “Aquatic Species Program”. The investigation in this area has resurged and in Puerto Rico, the RUM has an initiative in the Agricultural Experimental Station of Lajas to study the microalgaes in open ponds and the biorefinery concept.Â

4) All this requires an integral plan of land and water handling that it is able to not only diminish the existent vulnerability, dependence and addiction to the petroleum derived fuels but rather in turn assists vulnerabilities of eatable products and raw materials for the industrial sector.  Â

Oceanic energyÂ

The oceanic energy is another of the renewable energy alternatives that is bieng discussed in these moments not only in Puerto Rico but around the world. The best known and developed technologies are the generators of energy by means of waves, tides, submarine currents and thermal ocean (well-known as OTEC for their initials in English). Other less well-known ones intend to use the gradients or differences in the salinity (osmotic pressure) and carbon dioxide (CO2) between the surface and the big depths. This last one is based on the difference of density or “head” caused by the difference in concentration of this gas in the water between the surface and the bottom.Â

Puerto Rico, for being an island, has places that have been identified as of high potential for the installation of these technologies. Studies in the RUM demonstrate that in Puerto Rico the energy of the tides and of the currents is not cost-effective to produce electricity nowadays with the available technology and for the low resource that we possess of these . Between OTEC and the energy of the sea waves to produce electricity, the technology of the sea waves is ahead than OTEC with prototypes in several countries (United States, Japan, Portugal, Spain) and commercial outlines in administration (United States, Portugal). Also, there is enough resource of sea waves to produce electricity in Puerto Rico, both with devices buoy type as with devices in the coast. The most cost-effective are those buoys type and at the moment there are studies being carried out in the RUM to quantify the cost for kWh. Punta Tuna in the southeast of the Island, is one of the best places in the world to use the thermal oceanic energy due to the depth that the sea has near that place. That proximity would facilitate its construction and it would diminish the investment costs.Â

These studies were carried out more than 25 years ago, they were abandoned and now they are intended again as energy alternative (the Authority of Electric power is in negotiations to establish one of these facilities). However, the most advanced oceanic technologies are not commercially mature. In fact, many of them are in the evaluation of prototypes stage. Also, all these technologies, the same as the non-oceanic ones, impact somehow or other the coasts, their echo-systems and the use of the area for other activities. It is important that these effects are identified and that theyare incorporated in the technical, economic and social viability analyses. Another challenge for all these systems is the saline atmosphere of the coasts. This implies that the selection of materials and their cost are critical and that it is necessary to be extremely cautious in the estimate of the operational costs since the maintenance of these units can be significant. Besides the corrosive effects of the salinity, the biological growth in the surfaces known as “biofouling” can be more destructive than the effects of the salinity.Â

In conclusion, both the Biorefinery and the Oceanic Energy are two options that possess characteristic that should be seriously considered not only in energy aspects but rather they assist other basic necessities. The discussion of these options, the same as other proposed renewable strategies by the complex nature of the problem, should include an early, wide, inclusive and transparent discussion if they want to be sustainable strategies and of long term benefit in Puerto Rico. In May of 2008 a dialogue began about biofuels in the UPR-RUM organized by the Tropical de Energía Ambiente y Sociedad (ITEAS). This university dialogue seeks to expand out of the RUM, and it is presented as a space to take this discussion to actions and concrete strategies, multisectorials to develop or to adapt these technologies to the Boricua environment. Â

Dr. José Colucci Ríos, PE*/Special for ClaridadÂ

* The author is Professor and Investigator on Sustainable Energy, UPR-RUM, ITEAS, Dean Associated of Investigation and Development in Engineering, UPR-RUM and Coordinator of the Program of the Fundación Sloan in InQu-UPR-RUM.Â

Source: Claridad Puerto Rico

In this year the FOB prices of the biodiesel registered an increase of almost 39%. In April of 2008 argentinean exportations of biodiesel were declared for 85.943 tons to an average pondered value of 1227,4 u$s/ton, with a minimum of 1044 u$s/ton and a maximum of 1335 u$s/ton. The 93,6% was destinated to USA and 6,4% to Holland.

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In March of 2008 argentinean exportations of biodiesel had been declared before the SIM/AFIP for 122.454 tons to a average pondered value of 1176,4 u$s/ton, with a minimum of 814 u$s/ton and a maximum of 1400 u$s/ton. The data corresponds to the tariff position 3824.90.29.100P.

Most of the declarations done in March were registered before the day 13th of that month, since from that day on started an increment of the aliquot of the export right applied to the biodiesel. Until then, the external sale of the biofuel was burdened by a retention of 5,0% and enjoyed a refund of 2,5% (that is to say had a net right of 2,5%). Starting from March 13th -according to what resolution 126/08 of the Ministry of Economy established- it went to have a nominal retention of 20,0% (17,5 % net).Â

Meanwhile, the value half pondered in December of 2007Â was of 883,4 u$s/ton. This implies that in the first four months of the year the average value of exportation of the biodiesel grew 38,9%.Â

In Argentina operate two big elaborating companies of biodiesel that, at the moment, are the ones that carry out most of the shipments. It is Renova, located in San Lorenzo (Santa Fe) and property of Glencore and Vicentín. The other one is Ecofuel, located in Puerto San Martin, Santa Fe, and controlled by Aceitera General Deheza and Bunge.Â

Source: Infocampo

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