During the CNEX – Talking Points forum held at the Philippine Information Agency, PCA public relations officer Thelma Tolentino said government is considering to increase the current minimum two percent blend of coco-diesel due to its many benefits.

Although Tolentino did not mention a definite date of implementation, the Department of Energy earlier issued a policy that aims to increase to five percent the current mixture, to around 10 percent by 2015.

She said the potential of coco-biodiesel goes beyond its financial rewards to the millions of coconut farmers in the country.

We must also take into consideration its benefits to the economy and the environment, she said.

A recent study showed that coconut farmers stand to earn more than P2 billion per year in the sale of coconut oil, a primary ingredient of the coco-biodiesel.

Likewise, coco-biodiesel enhances the combustion performance of diesel engines for better effeciency and less pollution produced.

It said that the inherent oxygen content of coco-biodiesel promotes better combustion in the engine which translates to an increase in mileage by as much as 10 percent.PIA.

RFS2 will help generate significant demand for biodiesel. But what is its true impact, and how can biodiesel producers and marketers put themselves in a winning position? For a second year, this will be a primary focus of the conference. Educational sessions, the exhibit hall, and networking opportunities will empower you to use the RFS2 to your greatest advantage.

We’ll also confront another key issue that almost wiped biodiesel out of the RFS2: pseudoscience. Keynote Michael Shermer, founder of Skeptic Magazine, columnist for Scientific American, and world-renowned “debunker,” will explore the fuzzy land between science and pseudoscience, an area likely to shape public opinion on biodiesel for years to come. You won’t want to miss this dynamic presentation addressing one of the biggest challenges facing our industry: junk science presented as fact.

The demographics of our conference attendees indicate most are high-level decision-makers in their respective areas. This conference truly has developed into an annual meeting of the minds, and anyone who wants to advance with our industry will be there.

The 2011 conference, to be held at the Phoenix Convention Center Feb. 6-9, will include an array of networking and social events in this exciting city, along with our always popular and exciting Expo. To register, visit www.biodieselconference.org/2011.

Source: biodiesel magazine

Plan now to participate in the biodiesel event of the year. The annual National Biodiesel Conference & Expo is the only event that gathers biodiesel decision-makers from all around the United States and the world.

Opportunities abound for attendees and exhibitors to network, connect and learn. This event will explore the topics of governmental policy, technical issues and marketing trends in the biodiesel industry.

2011 is shaping up to be a banner year for biodiesel production and industry growth. Our hope is that this conference will be the springboard to greater opportunities for our industry.

“The demographics of the conference attendees indicate most are high-level decision-makers in their respective areas,” said NBB CEO Joe Jobe. “This conference truly has developed into an annual ‘meeting of the minds,’ and you just have to be there to be part of it.”

The 2011 conference, to be held at the Phoenix Convention Center, will include an array of networking and social events in this exciting city, along with our always popular Expo.

The attendee early bird registration deadline is Nov. 19. Registering before this date will help save you money on your conference registration.

Visit the official conference website at www.biodieselconference.org for easy online registration. The website is also home to schedules, lodging information, area attractions, and many other helpful links.

http://biodiesel.com.ar/4064/2011-biodiesel-conference-expo#more-4064

www.biodiesel.com.ar

The global market is expected to record a CAGR of 7.8% from 2009 to 2014.

Increasing environmental concerns and the need for energy independence have led to the biodiesel market. Despite the economic recession, global biodiesel production totaled 5.1 billion gallons in 2009, representing a 17.9pc increase over 2008 levels.

The biodiesel market is expected to grow from $8.6 billion in 2009 to $12.6 billion in 2014. Market growth is primarily dependent on the availability, quality, and yield of feedstock, as it accounts for 65pc to 70pc of the cost of biodiesel production.

Biodiesel derived from rapeseed oil forms the largest segment of the overall market. Germany is the single largest producer of biodiesel with 2.8 million tonnes produced in 2008.

The biodiesel market also offers immense opportunities to countries such as the UK, India, and China, as these regions have high diesel fuel prices and a large number of diesel-fuelled vehicles.

While growth may be affected by feedstock availability issues and the food versus fuel debate, the market is expected to witness a paradigm shift with the increasing conversion efficiency of existing feedstock, and the development of newer feedstock sources such as algae, the report notes.

Transportation forms the main application market for biodiesel, with automotives accounting for 70% of the global biodiesel production.

As the use of conventional fuel for transport purposes is increasing greenhouse gas emissions at an alarming rate, governments across the globe have begun providing incentives for green energy.

Europe is currently the world’s largest biodiesel market; and is expected to be worth $7.0 billion by 2014 with a CAGR of 8.4% from 2009 to 2014. The growth of the European biodiesel market is driven mainly by governmental initiatives.

Source:  farmonline

As Indonesia is today the world’s largest producer of crude palm oil (CPO) — a desirable feedstock for biodiesel production — it has the potential to grow into a world biodiesel leader and a model for plantation sustainability.

Biodiesel has the potential to become a significant industry sector in Indonesia, supported by two of its most valuable assets: its oil palm plantations, and more importantly, its people. Indonesia currently produces approximately 20 million tons of CPO per year from 7 million hectares of oil palm plantation, of which approximately 80 percent  is exported. 

In terms of revenue, CPO exports provide Indonesia with its biggest non-petroleum source of export income, and this is expected to grow in the future. 

Beyond revenue generation, oil palm plantations also currently provide a livelihood for more than three million Indonesian families.  This, too, is also expected to grow in the future.

By 2015, the area of Indonesian oil palm is expected to increase to 10 million hectares, of which three million hectares have already been approved. 

Studies have shown that the total amount of land that is suitable for growing oil palms, but which has not yet been approved, may be as high as 44 million hectares. 

Using conservative yield estimates, this area of oil palm plantation would produce 145 billion litres per year of biodiesel, or 10 percent  of current fossil diesel demand.  Beyond this significant biodiesel potential is the possibility of providing income to an additional 19 million Indonesian families. 

While these 44 million hectares are considered suitable for oil palm plantations, it is imperative to consider the long-term environmental consequences — including the overall, or life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions — before pursuing any development.

Conscious of the potential environmental impact of oil palm plantation development, new crops which grow on marginal land are being investigated. This greatly reduces the required land-clearing and concomitant “carbon dioxide debt” from the forest destruction. 

One example of such a crop is Jatropha, which has been studied extensively by the Indonesian Center for Estate Crops Research and Development.  Recent estimates from the Indonesian National Team for Biofuel Development suggest that as much as 15 million hectares of land in Indonesia are suitable for Jatropha plantations. 

With conservative yield estimates, this land would produce 40 billion litres per year of biodiesel.

From a feedstock perspective, Indonesia certainly has the potential to become a world biodiesel hub, but there are two additional elements that need to be in place — sufficient biodiesel processing capacity and adequate demand, either domestically or internationally.

As with any other investment, biodiesel processing capacity will only develop if it results in a profitable business.  With the spot price of CPO close to US$700 /t, it is not currently economical to produce biodiesel, explaining the large proportion of idle capacity in Indonesia’s current biodiesel production capacity of nearly 3 billion litres per year.

Feedstock cost represents the majority of biodiesel production costs and is the only lever for affecting significantly the profitability of biodiesel production. Securing feedstock supply contracts is an option to lower feedstock cost but prices will still be subject to market volatility, and will also include some margin for the plantation.

Even with a profitable biodiesel business in place, sufficient demand must exist for any biodiesel that is produced. Current demand is driven largely by government biofuel blending mandates, which are currently set at 2.5 percent.  This demand will increase only if the government accelerates the biodiesel blending mandate, or if crude oil prices increase relative to CPO prices, which is unlikely given the recent high correlation between the two.

A third way to accelerate domestic short- to mid-term biodiesel demand while also increasing biodiesel export demand, however, does exist.  Recent advances in biodiesel processing technology have made it possible to use CPO to produce so-called “green diesel” which has superior fuel properties compared to both biodiesel and fossil diesel.  This technology uses a hydrogenation process, similar to that found in modern oil refineries, to upgrade vegetable oil to green diesel.

The superior fuel properties of green diesel means that it can be used as a blending agent to upgrade the quality of the fossil diesel pool at a traditional refinery, and this allows for the possibility of increasing the overall refinery margins in some cases.  Domestically, this means that green diesel can be used in large quantities in place of fossil diesel, thus reducing Indonesia’s dependence on fossil diesel imports.  The implementation of increasingly stringent Euro IV and Euro V fuel specifications in Europe also increases the possibility for the export of green diesel as a blending agent.

While Indonesia has great potential to become a major world player in biodiesel, it is unlikely to be fulfilled unless sustainable plantation practices are followed.  The location where palm plantations are established and the manner in which new palm plantation land is cleared, have a large effect on life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions.

Indonesia is in a strong position to further develop its already significant CPO production into a much larger and more profitable biodiesel industry.

The combination of a rich natural resource base, a dedicated and knowledgeable people and recent advances in biodiesel technology, combine to form a strong base on which to develop Indonesia as a major world player in biodiesel. 

Dr. Bernd Waltermann is a BCG senior partner and managing director and Dr. Henning Streubel is a BCG partner and managing director. Both are based in Southeast Asia.

Source: The Jakarta Post

Growing imports of cheap Argentine biodiesel into Europe are replacing U.S. imports hit by European Union anti-dumping duties in March, Swiss-German biodiesel producer Biopetrol said on Thursday.

“Increasing amounts of indirectly-subsidized biodiesel have been coming to Europe from Argentina since the second quarter,” Biopetrol said in a statement in a statement on its first half 2009 results.

“The EU and the German government are once again called upon to act quickly to give European biodiesel producers the same protection against subsidized imports as in the case of B99 (biodiesel) from the U.S.”

In March, the EU said it would impose punitive duties on imports of biodiesel from the U.S. while an investigation is held into allegations the U.S. green fuel is sold cheaply in Europe with the help of subsidies.

“Biodiesel prices continued to be under heavy pressure, because large inventories of highly subsidized American B99 that had been established in Europe were still being sold on the market,” Biopetrol said.

The company, which in April underwent major financial restructuring, on Thursday posted a dramatic fall in first half 2009 turnover of about 50 percent to 69.7 million euros from 139.8 million euros in the first half of 2008.

Losses before interest and tax (Ebit) rose to 13.7 million euros from a loss of 3.1 million euros in the same time in 2008.

Increased taxes on biodiesel imposed by the German government had brought a “collapse” in petrol station sales of the green fuel in the first half, Biopetrol said.

This could not even be remotely compensated for by Germany increasing maximum-permitted blending of biodiesel in conventional diesel from five percent biofuel content to seven percent, it said.

Germany’s biofuels industry association said on Monday the country’s biodiesel industry is only working at 20 percent of capacity largely because of high taxes.

But Biopetrol said it was “well positioned for the future” after its financial restructuring in April.

(Reporting by Michael Hogan; Editing by Peter Blackburn)

Source: Reuters

Raúl Padilla, the president of Bunge Argentina,was one of the main assistants to the 5° conference of the Forum of the Agroindustrial Chain and in a break of the encounter he dialogued with punto biz about the projects of the company. Â

How does the construction of the fertilizers plant in the Ramallo complex go? Â

After 19 months of works, I can say that we are about to begin to operate. In the next days we will be producing and we begin with a capacity of 200/210 thousand tons. Â

The new situation didn´t worry you as to stop the project? It is spoken of smaller sales of fertilizers for the next campaign.Â

It is certain that when we started the project the scenario was completely different and quite more favorable. But they are strategic decisions that are taken thinking in the long term. And in the long term Argentina will continue increasing the demand of fertilizers because its producers have conscience of the importance of taking care of the ground and raising the production and, on the other side, it will also be convinient to produce in the country, and for that reason we are substituting imports.Â

Do you continue with the project of also building an oil factory in Ramallo?Â

Yes. And it will be ready for the next crop with a capacity of more than 3.000 tons.Â
Will you open an oil factory when the industrialization leve is falling, there is little stock because the producers don’t sell and some plants are advancing technical stops due to the obstacles to the regular export?Â

I repeat the previous concept. It is a long term strategic project and the difficulties of the situation, that certainly exist and worry us very much, won’t stop us too much or as much as not advancing in our projects. Also, our forecast is that the soya production in the next campaign will go up . The production of soya of Paraguay will also increase, very rich in proteins for oils.Â

Will there be a biofuel plant in Ramallo?Â

No. We have a plant in Puerto San Martin in association with AGD.Â

How is the construction of the rail entrance to Ramallo?

It is already operating.

Mariano Galindez

Courtesy of Punto Biz for Nextfuel Argentina/Biodiesel.com.ar

It is the Global Agricultural Resources (Gar) company.Â

Its representative in Argentina advanced that once they reach the 50.000 sowed hectares, they will install an oil factory and later on, a biofuel elaborato.Â

The Global Agricultural Resources (GAR) company, of Swiss capitals, advanced that it will build an oil plant oil in the Nea and later on, a biodiesel elaborator.

In the first stage of the project, the company is promoting the tartago cultivation in the whole region. To that effect, they guarantee the purchase of all the volume of this oleaginous that is produced in the region and they give seeds to the colonists that are interested in this cultivation.Â

It is expected that next year, that Misiones reaches 6.000 hectares covered with this bush, while in Corrientes and Chaco there will be a total of 15.000.Â

As its representative explained in Argentina, Daniel Kait, once we get to the 50.000 hectares in production, the industrial stage will begin, that plans the construction of an oil factory to process the seeds and then, a biodiesel plant “as long as the forecasts of profitability allow it”, Kait explained.Â

The factory will settle in the province that has the biggest cultivated surface, in order to minimize the costs of freight.Â

Rustic plantÂ

The main attractiveness that presents the Tartago as cultivation in the area, is its wildness. It is a bush that grows in wild way in the area, it resists extreme droughts and high temperatures. It can even be developed in highly degraded floors and it doesn’t require much cares.Â

Due to its characteristics, this cultivation represents an ideal alternative be practiced in “capueras” and other lands not incorporated to the productive system for being of low fertility.

The average price of the seeds is of 170 dollars per ton and the yield oscillates between the 2.500 and 4.000 kilos per hectare. Keeping in mind these data, the cultivation would offer an annual income of up to 680 dollars for hectare, similar to the one that is obtained in a low yield weed.Â

Kait estimated however that the values of the tartago would increase in the future from the hand of the strong increment that is forseen in the biodiesel demand. In that sense, Kait highlighted that the European Union will force to mix the fossil fuel that is sold in the old continent, with a biofuel percentage.Â

Starting from 2009, the oil companies will incorporate 2 percent of vegetable components to their fuels, percentage that will be increased progressively until arriving to 20 percent in 2020.Â

Source: Misiones on line

Translation by Nextfuel/Biodiesel.com.ar

The Oriental Republic of the Uruguay depends in great measure of external energy sources, at least until they discovered some gas and petroleum locations that could feed the country during almost 100 years. Anyway, it could try to incorporate a bigger load of renewable energy, since it doesn’t participate in the non renewable energy market.

There are thousands of private companies in the world generating electric power. The fundamental role of the state in that segment consists on the approval of regulations and very meticulous contracts that foresee the nonfulfillment risks, sustained the engineers Jorge Martínez, director of the Institute of Chemical Engineering of the Engineering Faculty of the UdelaR, and Álvaro Lamas, manager of the energy sector. Next a summary of the interview with ECONOMIA & MERCADO.Â

-Which are the characteristics of our energy matrix?Â

Álvaro Lamas- our matrix presents considerable differences with the rest of the world, mainly regarding renewable and not renewable energy. Uruguay has an interesting consumption of renewable energy that overcomes to the world average because it has always had to appeal to a variety of energy able to supply the industry and the families in moments of scarce availability.Â

Jorge Martínez-In the world, the non renewable energy coming from fossil fuels (gas, petroleum or coal) represent 90%, while the remaining 10% is compound by renewable energy (hydric, solar, eolic, etc). If firewood is subtracted asenergy, fuel whose use is very spread in the underdeveloped countries, the world consumption of the renewable is of only 2%.Â

-How is Uruguay positioned in this respect?

JM-the non renewable energy represent 58% of our energy matrix based on the petroleum and gas consumption, and the renewables are equal to 42%. This composition, mainly for the significant use of the firewood (18%) and of the hydroelectric energy (25% including 5% that it is imported), distinguishes Uruguay from most of the countries of the world.Â

In our country, thebiomass consumption, that should not be mistaken with the firewood, is of 2% regarding the total energy consumption, that is an outstanding figure.Â

-Which are the main energy demandants in Uruguay?Â

JM- The transport is the main energy demandant with 33% and, obviously, it consumes naphtha and gasoil. Followed by the residential consumption with 28% that uses electricity, gas and firewood. The third place is the industry with 22%, being the firewood the second energy most used in this sector with a 24%.Â

-How has the energy consumption evolved in the last decades?Â

Al-in the 70´s, when the first petroleum crisis took place, the use of firewood began increase and to decrease the hydrocarbons use at industrial level. When lowering the price of the crude by the middle of the 80´s, the tendency of the energy consumption was reverted for some time; but then the firewood took a sustained impulse up to the present again. The extended use of this fuel in Uruguay has generated a very original and high quality industry that is the boiler.Â

JM-in this moment there are three private enterprises that will generate electric power starting from the resulting vapor of burning biomass. The boilers of two of those projects are being manufactured in our country by the Julio Berkes S.A. metallurgist. and byTurboflow Uruguay S.A., a company of the Group C.I.R. Those are clear examples that when a productive sector is developed – in this case, that of energy generation – industries linked to that activity begin to work.Â

-Could the national industry manufacture other implements related to the energy generation?Â

JM-As objective data exist on that Uruguay has an important eolic potential, the installation of more than an eolic park to generate electric power starting from the wind is forseen. Consequently, it would be interesting to develop an industry that manufactured eolic autogenerators, that today have to be imported and whose cost is very high.Â

-Would it be necessary to discard the installation of new industries that are highly intensive in the energy consumption?Â

JM-that happened some years ago with a project to install a silicon plant in Soriano or Durazno. Surely, the future industrial enterprises will have to have foreseen their energy provisioning. For example, the cellulose pasta plants are at the moment a “mix” of energy and pasta company. They have the advantage that they are surplus in energy. Otherwise, they would be economically improbable given the incidence of the electricity in the final product cost. On the other hand, the installation of paper factories in Uruguay is more doubtful because it presents the inconvenience that those plants are big energy consumers.Â

-Toward where should the diversification of our energy matrix aim?Â

Al-Uruguay should try to incorporate for economic reasons a bigger load of renewable energy, since it doesn’t participate in the non renewable energy market. In front of the existent technological offer nowadays, it doesn’t seem too difficult to increase the current participation of 42% that the renewable energy have in our country.Â

-Why is it not possible to build more hydroelectric dams that are based on a renewable natural resource?Â

JM-The hydric generation offers much cheaper energy, but the possibilities of this resource are practically out in the national territory. It would only be feasible to build small reservoirs that they would generate very little electric power. Therefore, there are two alternatives left: to motivate the use of sustainable renewable energy or, inside the not renewables, to reassume the discussion about the convenience or not of the nuclear energy.Â

-Which is the most economic non traditional renewable energy in Uruguay?Â

Al-Today the biomass is more economic since the investment in the installation of a plant as the resource doesn’t require enormous capitals. Even, if it is compared to the eolic energy, it is also cheaper. In spite of the fact that the wind is gratuitous, the cost of the aerogenerators is very high.Â

-What renewable resources would be suitable to develop in Uruguay?Â

JM-The election of the renewable energy resources should be attentively studied since each alternative has its advantages and disadvantages. Among the aspects to keep in mind figures the denominated “energy security” because you cannot bet too much on a single resource. For example, the solar energy, that is a resource that Uruguay should develop, can present serious inconveniences in the case that several clouded days are presented in uninterrupted way. The same thing happens with an eolic park that is affected by a lingering period of lack of wind. These energy sources need energy backups of another type, the same as the hydric energy requires the support of the thermal generation. Therefore, our country has to carefully plan the development of its renewable energy, as today everybody does.Â

-What do they say of the official energy planning?Â

AL-the government is giving it the importance that the energy topic deserves. Also, diverse positions in the discussion of the energy situation are becoming public, thing that had not happened in the past, which is merit of the action of this administration but also of the current reality in the world. We have seen some actions undertaken by the Energy Direction of the MIEM that denote concern for the development of the sector, although a energy policy program has not still been designed nor have concrete projects been implemented.Â

-What changes are noticed regarding energy policies?Â

JM-Beyond the quantitative contribution of three projects of electric power generation, two with biomass and another with wind, that is not important in quantity of megawatts, measured in relative terms, the qualitative change of the current situation should be valued. It has gone from a electric generation public monopoly to the participation of private agents, although their contribution is small compared with the generation power that has installed the state entity UTE.Â

Al-This new concept of distributed generation of electric power is a good road to be followed. This tendency, that was insinuated during the government of Dr. Lacalle and couldn´t be done due to political reasons; now is being captured in some actions and in a change of the actors’ mentality.Â

-What quantity of energy in the medium term could the private generators of electricity end up contributing with by means of projects of biomass, eolic, etc.?Â

JM-The director of UTE, Gerardo Rey, expressed on the radio El Espectador that two private enterprises in Rivera and Tacuarembó will generate starting from forest waste 10 Mw each one next year and a third in Treinta y Tres, that will use the shell of rice to generate electric power, will be able to give another 10 Mw. There are also awards of two eolic parks that will add 6 Mw. It is necessary to add the plant of Botnia, that had planned initially to register an excess of 30 Mw, and today generates a surplus of 50-60 Mw. If summed to all that, around 100 Mw will be operative in March of 2009, but much higher levels could be reached in few years.Â

-On what does the installation of new energy generating private projects depend?

JM-Before the sawmills had to burn to open sky the resulting residuals of their activity, basically the sawdust and those “coastal” of the trunks. Although there was no technological impediment so that they used them in the electricity generation, the obstacle resided in the price that the state electric entity was willing to pay for the Mwh. In the negotiation, the offered figures went from the generation cost that UTE has for the hydric Mwh that is tiny but cannot be compared with that of the alternative energy, to what it costs to the electric entity to generate energy with fossil fuels in their thermal plants, that it is very high given the petroleum price.Â

When the last year an average price was arbitrated that made the private enterprises economically viable, several renewable energy projects began to be developed. In the medium termthe current private generating capacity could triple of generation. If a load of 300 Mw was achieved, it would be equal to 20% of the electric public generation sector.

-What opinion does the fact that a fifth part of the electric generation supply of the country depends on private projects than can be interrupted in a certain moment if they don’t find the energy sale yielding deserve?Â

Al-Inspite that that risk isn´t present when the energy generation is in hands of the State, there are thousands of private companies in the world generating electric power with very strict contracts to avoid that its proprietors to suppress or restrict the supply. Also, the more diversified the raw material source is of these energy generating plants, the more sure and stable becomes the electric system of a country.Â

JM-The fundamental list of the State in that segment consists on the approval of regulations and very meticulous contracts that foresee the risks. In that way, the State is not an energy generator, but a regulator of the energy generation, a facilitator of contracts with the private generators and a supervisor of its execution.Â

-How much can the Uruguayan economy grow with the current availability of energy resources of the country?Â

Al-As the energy availability in Uruguay is practically in their inferior limit, the government is appealing to the energy purchase abroad. However, certain uncertainty always exists as for the regularity of the supply, since our country depends on the energy reality of its two neighbors that is also complicated. Therefore, the possibilities of growth of the Uruguayan economy will be given if the productive enterprises selfsupply with energy. That is to say that will only be viable the new projects of certain span that include the energy production in their planning. Not being this way, the electricity or gas supply would have to be reduced to the existent industries or the domiciliary net, which doesn’t seem very logical.

-In what measure is the sustainable economic growth of a country linked with the availability of the energy resources?Â

JM-The energy availability is without a doubt a restriction to the economic growth of any nation. One of the classic parameters that exist in this respect it is that to more GDP per capita, the bigger is the consumption of energy of a country. Nevertheless, the efficient use of the energy resources is more important, may it be fossil as those derived of the petroleum or renewable as the hydroelectric energy.Â

-How could the efficiency in the energy use in Uruguay be improved?Â

JM-A possibility to increase the efficiency of the system is to increase the offer of energy sources, but simultaneously to rationalize the consumption, which would allow to reach very important savings. Although to enunciate this recommendation is easy, it is very difficult to take it to the practice because it implies a cultural change that generally take a lot of time in any society. You cannot plan under that hypothesis in a horizon of five or ten years. Other alternatives to sustain the growth of the Uruguayan economy must be searched.

-How can you achieve a bigger participation of the agrofuels in the energy matrix?Â

There are two fundamental actions. One is to have a clear juridical mark, that is provided by Law of Agrofuels Nº 18.195 approved by the end of 2007. (N.del R: The agrofuels understood by that normative are the alcohol ethylic fuel, that is used in combustion motors to naphtha, and the biodiesel, derived of vegetable oils or animal fats that it is used for diesel motors. The production and exporting activities of both agrofuels are excluded of the monopoly of Ancap, although the sale to the exterior requires previous authorization of Ancap. Also, their production is limited to the external market, to the self-consumption, to the supply of captive fleets or to its sale to the energy state entity, that would have the monopoly of its commercialization going to the public in general).Â

The other action is a commercial state policy that it pays reasonable prices. The agrofuels doesn’t have to be the ashen of the energy sector since they are a valid alternative. In the case that the State can motivate economically – for example, by means of taxes – for a certain period to the industries that generate alcohol fuel and biodiesel, as the development programs in Brazil and other countries of the world do so, enterprises that will contribute so that the Uruguayan energy matrix consolidates in the renewable energies front of those non renewable.Â

-How many companies are producing agrofuels in Uruguay?Â

Al-There is around half dozen of private companies, distributed in the whole country that produce biodiesel. Their current consumption by tractors, agroindustrial machines, automobiles, vans, etc. is equal to the journey of seven million kilometers per year made by a vehicle of 150 HP, that could be a small truck. This experience is very valuable because it allows to prove the application of a renewable resource, detect the possible flaws and discover how to improve its operation.Â

-It has transcended that Ancap will be supplied of biodiesel by a single supplier. What effects would that measure have in the investment of the sector?Â

Al-Until now we don’t know any official document where an agreement of that nature is mentioned. We hope Ancap emits an official statement explaining its policys regarding the biodiesel provisioning and establishing if the provision will be bid openly or if it will be carried out through an agreement that is outside of a bid. Up to now all that we know are transcendeds that say that the main input of that biodiesel would be the sunflower.

-Does the larger demand of soya to produce biodiesel play against their ravailability for people and animal´s feeding?Â

JM-On one part, when soya is dedicated for the biodiesel production, of each ton of industrialized soya, more than 85% becomes a proteic cake that is dedicated to animal feeding that finally transforms into human food.Â

As for the land availability for these cultivations in competition with other cultivations dedicated to the human feeding, the realities are different in the countries. In particular in ours that is importer of fossil fuels and has around 85% of its territory capable for the agriculture, that opposition foods versus fuels is not presented.Â

By Arnau Fuentes

Source: El País digital/Ecoperiódico