NEXTFUEL ARGENTINA opens www.biodirectorio.com, a space for agricultural and bioenergy companies to offer their products and services; a thematic search engine of www.biodiesel.com.ar, one of the most visited sites on spanish-language about biodiesel, agriculture and renewable energy and with an excellent position in major Internet search engines as Google and Yahoo.

We invite all companies of bioenergy and agriculture, as well as organizations, associations, conferences, congresses and exhibitions on these subjects, to register on our Bio-directory, suggesting the category with which they wish to be found in searches.

The Bio-directory also has an english version, advanced search, search by alphabetical order and by category.

Be among the first to join your company to Bio-directory!

info@biodirectorio.com

Biodirectorio.com is a venture of Nextfuel Argentina.

www.biodiesel.com.ar

Progress in the use of biofuels for power generation..

On May 20 the government announced the GENREÂ program (Renewable Generation), by which the state company ENARSA will call for tender the purchase of electricity produced through renewable energy.

The ceremony held at Government House in the presence of the President of the Nation-Cristina F. Kirchner, the Secretary of Energy Daniel Cameron, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Oscar Parrilli, the Governors of San Juan, Santiago del Estero, La Rioja, other officials and businessmen linked to the industry.

This program sets the purchase of 1000MW of electric power (which will be tendered) produced on the basis of various renewable energies, from this total: 500MW will be generated from wind power, 120 MW from waste, 100MW from biomass, 30MW from geothermal; 60 MW from small hydro electrics, 20 MW from solar, 20 MW from biogas and 150MW that will be generated based on biofuels (mainly biodiesel).

The president of CARBIO, Ing Fernando Pelaez, said, “The incorporation of renewable energies in the national matrix contribute to its diversification into non-fossil fuel dependence, as well as reduces the emission of greenhouse gas which results in an environmental benefit. ” He concluded that this measure will have a positive impact in the biofuels sector as it involves both a reactivation in the production of biodiesel, and the imminent need to resort to alternative sources of energy generation.

CARBIO is a nonprofit civil association whose main objective is the development and promotion of production and marketing of biofuels and its industry, to contribute actively to a sustainable and economic growth of the country. Is formed by companies of recognized prestige in Argentina that produce over 95% of biofuels in our country.

Courtesy Carbio for Nextfuel Argentina / www.biodiesel.com.ar

Developer. De Souza Meirelles is leading a project for expansion of ethanol.

Interview with brazilian producer Joao Carlos de Souza Meirelles.

His company, Frontera Norte, is working on the development of new agricultural zones, founded three cities and colonized one million hectares, mostly in Mato Grosso. Strong commitment to energy sugar cane.

Frontera Norte Ingeniería de Desarrollo Limitada is a company with over 30 years in the development of large zones of new agricultural frontiers of Brazil. “We did what we call in Portuguese, colonization.” said to “La Voz del Campo” the engineer Joao Carlos de Souza Meirelles, group member and former secretary of agriculture of the state of San Pablo. Coming from a family of Portuguese immigrants but with several generations among Brazilian farmers, De Souza Meirelles is one of the “fathers” of the raise of Brazil as the first world exporter of beef.

He also participated in Cordoba as a speaker in the first Argentine-Brazilian Corporate Bioenergy Summit.

He explained that the ventures of Frontera Norte opened opportunities for farmers in southern Brazil with large families who sought new lands for themselves and their children. “To give an example, we have developed rural activities in the state of Mato Grosso in more than one million hectares. These were virgin lands, we did projects, soil´s studies, nature conservation and build cities. I have built three cities on this new frontier, ” De Souza boastful.

- What economic units are we talking about?

Near the cities are small plots for vegetables, fruit farmers who supply urban areas, ranging from one to five hectares. Then, properties that can range from 120 to 250 acres, and ranging from 250 to 2500 or 5000 acres. And more distant from these towns, properties can have 25 thousand acres.

- And in the field of bioenergy, which projects has the company?

In the past two years we have developed a very important project for forming a cluster of bioenergy, it is not a factory or an industry, but a set of three large projects. Each one will plant 60 thousand hectares of sugar cane, a total of 180 thousand hectares. The are about 80 kilometers from one another so the total production reaches one billion liters of ethanol per year, and also electricity will be produced. The industrial part is final study, the construction will be contracted in 2010 and the first unit will start producing in 2012, the second in 2014 and third in 2016.

There is a concern about relative prices, with oil at $ 57 a barrel and soybeans to more than $ 400 a tonne in Chicago. How does this affect the business of biofuels?

-First, the relative prices of oil impacting the entire side of farming inputs (fertilizers and defense derivates). Secondly, for us to produce ethanol and electricity in Brazil, if oil is above the $ 40 we are absolutely competitive with ethanol. And all the experts in the world are convinced that the level of oil prices will stabilize in the coming years around the $ 60. And we are looking increasingly competitive, in five to 10 years we can be competitive with oil $35 or $ 37 a barrel.

In Argentina, and in Córdoba there is great expertise in producing agricultural commodities.

 What do you recommended to guide investment in agro-bio?

-It would be much pretension to make recommendations, but I would allow myself a reflection: what are the problems that farmers, were they from Argentina, Brazil or anywhere, have experienced in the past. 50 years ago we were not the most important thing in our economy because our countries lived of our productions of wheat, corn, meat, coffee. What happened? The generations that came imagined that only the industry was the national salvation and peasants, were considered the second in importance. The great revolution is changing the notion that we are not producers of raw materials but a very important part of the production chain. And if we do not organize the production chain, we are always going to be the absorbers of international prices. The other always win, and we, the producers, are compressed in terms of prices. But if we participate in the organization of the productive chain, of the concepts of price formation and increased productivity, we will be the most important in the chain.

Carlos Petroli

Source: La Voz/ Córdoba / Argentina

BIOFUELS.

The international financial crisis disrupted the business plans of the regional companies.

Oil industrials looking forward the national government to speed up the commercialization for biofuels in the domestic market of biofuels to face the retraction of the international markets.

In this way it was told in San Lorenzo to deputy Marcelo Fernandez, who is vice president of the SME comission and is chairman of the Central General Económica, a business group close to the national government.

After his visit to Rosario on thursday, where he met with businessmen in the city, he went to San Lorenzo to meet with local executives and visited the biodiesel plants of Bioenergía Patagonia and Vicentin.

Invited by the Union of Businessmen and Industrialists of San Lorenzo, executives said to Marcelo Fernandez the need to accelerate the time estimated in biofuels law that favors the production of biodiesel from plants for blending with diesel and gasoline, but establishing a mandatory cut of the naphtha and diesel fuel at 5% at least, from the fourth year.

Even though the plants of the region (Vicentin, Patagonia, Explora, Unitec Bio) are designed to supply the foreign market as its main business, the retraction of the global demand leads them to see with better eyes the domestic market.

While recovering a little, since the outbreak of the international financial crisis, last november, oil prices in the world fell sharply, discouraging the production of biofuels. In addition, the Argentine scheme of retentions remains the same and oil without high differential margin.

Patagonia Bioenergy is one of the plants that have been left with little activity after this situation, although the industry is operationally ready to produce and ship. “We believe it would be very good from every standpoint, for Argentina to consume biodiesel made in our country and the fact that biodiesel is much cleaner than gas-oil and will generate local workforce among other benefits,” he says to Punto Biz.

One of the sectors that have suffered a significant decline was that of SMEs, which as a result of this stoppage of production, depend directly or indirectly from these industries and expected from the SMEs committee of the Chamber of Deputies, to promote solutions to reactivate businesses and generate more jobs.

“We would like to see if there is an opportunity to anticipate the biofuels´s law which sets the market to be able to receive a 5% in 2011.” said Roberto Jacuzzi, president of the Union of Businessmen and Industrialists.
“From the standpoint of our organization, we are focused on the domestic market, and analyze how we can support this issue to continue with this production model, so we told him the situation of our industry for the deputy to work together on solutions fast, ” he added.

For his part, Fernandez said it will not be easy to accede to the request of businessmen: “We must discuss this with several factors, because there are several interests arising from these sectors of oil producing companies that will assert its power to that this does not happen, “said

The legislator also noted that this modification of the law is necessary to encourage these companies that are also creating manpower.

“There are many small companies linked to the production of biodiesel, and in this zone this industry is very important . The obstacles that we could find today are those that produce diesel fuel, but talking about a 5% like the law says is not as important to these companies that provide workforce to be left out, ” he said.

Anabela Tramontini

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

This is the first time that happens. Until november last year U.S. was the main customer. The export prices of biofuel are still low around USD 730 per tonne.

Last april Argentine declared biodiesel exports for 108,573 tonnes by a weighted average price of USD733/t, a value similar to that recorded in march (USD738/t).

Photo: Emilio López King-Archivo Nextfuel Argentina/Biodiesel.com.ar

Altough prices are still the same since last december with almost all Argentine biodiesel plants operating losses, the amount declared in april increased by 27% compared to march 2009 (84.900 tonnes) and is the highest since october 2008, when sales were recorded for 118,901 tons.

The news, last april the European Union (EU-27) became the sole buyer of Argentine biodiesel.

Until november 2008, U.S. was the main declared destination of biofuel exports. But from december the EU-27 began to take the lead to become the only client.

80.7% of sales reported in february went to the Netherlands (Holland), while the remaining 15.5% was declared to be sent to Spain and 3.9% to Italy.

The main companies operating in the sector are Renova, located in San Lorenzo and owned by Glencore and Vicentin; Ecofuel, located in Puerto San Martin and controlled by General Deheza and Bunge Argentina, Louis Dreyfus Commodities in Gral Lagos, Patagonia Bioenergía, located in San Lorenzo and controlled by Energía & Soluciones and Cazenave & Associates, and Explore, located in San Martin and controlled by the chilean investment group Meck (one of whose shareholders is the Argentine Wenceslao Casares, founder of the bankrupted Patagon.com).

Source:Â Infocampo

Kyung Wook Hur, Vice Minister, Ministry of Strategy and Finance of Korea; and Luis Alberto Moreno, President, IDB, signed a memorandum of understanding to promote programs and projects that foster cooperation between them and, in particular, activities related to green growth, sustainable energy and climate change.

Photo: Árlette Pedraglio

The Export-Import Bank of Korea and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will sign a an agreement to co-finance public and private sector projects worth as much as $2 billion in the next three years in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Kexim, as the Korean official export credit agency is known, and the IDB will work together to share information and identify and finance projects in infrastructure, information technology, trade finance and other areas. The accord will be signed in Medellín, Colombia, during the 50th Annual Meeting of the IDB’s Board of Governors.

Also during the annual meeting, the IDB and the Korean government, one of the Bank’s 48 member-countries, will also sign a cooperation agreement on Green Growth to develop and promote the use of renewable energy, efficient energy technologies and practices and carbon finance activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

“We are honored by the presence in Medellín of Vice Minister Kyung Wook Hur and Kexim’s President Dong-soo Kim, whom on behalf of the Korean Government are making a special contribution to more sustainable economic growth in Latin America and the Caribbean by providing cutting-edge green technologies,”said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “Kexim’s remarkable support with this large credit facility will allow the IDB to enhance its infrastructure financing during these difficult economic times”.

The accord also involves the creation of Green Growth Operations Steering Committee, formed by IDB officials, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance of Korea and members of Kexim. The committee will help in the formulation of policies that promote economic growth with environmental sustainability inn the region.

The IDB, the world’s largest regional development institution, and the Korean government are also strengthening its relations and partnering to provide advisory services in the areas of environmental protection, energy efficiency and sustainable finance.

Korea joined the IDB in 2005 as the Bank´s 47th member. The Asian nation has financed several IDB initiatives since then, including poverty alleviation programs and the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The IDB, through its Office of Outreach and Partnerships (ORP) has facilitated the accomplishment of these partnerships that will provide additional financial and non-financial resources to its member countries and is now effectively becoming the platform for doing business in the region.

Source: BID

WASHINGTON, (Reuters). – The future of the biodiesel market is in unstable land, because the closing of the legal lagoon of a fiscal credit and new European import tariffs could reduce the trade, said the Energy Information Administration. Â

It is expected that in 2009 in United States and with the standards of the renewable fuel, 500 million gallons (1900 million liters) of biodiesel be blended with diesel, a biofuel elaborated starting from oils or of animal fats. Â

The figure should be increased by law to 1000 million biodiesel gallons for 2012. This, together with the rise of the fuel prices, generated an increase in the production in the last years, and the tributary incentives sent great part of the fuel to the foreigner, in accordance with the EIA.Â

“However, the perspectives for this year of the biodiesel market of United States continues being highly uncertain”, said the agency in their weekly revision of the petroleum market. The tax credit of 1 dollar per gallon for the biodiesel blended with petroleum diesel, known as the Blender Tax Credit (BTC), was extended until year end. But a legal lagoon in it that stimulated the trade was covered in October as part of the economic stabilization law of 2008.Â

The legal lagoon would allow the operators to add a small quantity of petroleum diesel to the imports of pure biodiesel and then to export the new mixture to take advantage of the fiscal credit.Â

“To add only 1 gallon of conventional diesel to 1000 gallons of biodiesel was enough as to qualify for the BTC”, specified the report of the EIA. While the legal lagoon existed, the biodiesel imports grew from 4 million gallons in 2004 up to 315 millions last year, as it was considered.Â

Source: La Nación

Berlin, Jan 26(EFE). – The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) held today it’s Founding Conference in Bonn, in an act in which Spain was represented by the minister of Industry, Miguel Sebastian, and the secretary of State for the Climatic Change, María Teresa Ribera Rodríguez.    Â

IRENA is fruit of a German initiative, to which Spain and Denmark were added, and it has as objective the renewable energy promotion in the entire world and to overcome the obstacles that these find in its development.Â

Sebastian took advantage of his participation in the conference to appeal to all the countries to impel the clean energy sources together and to share experiences on this matter.Â

“Spain can contribute its experience in that field, since it is leader in some sectors as that of the wind energy”, Sebastian said.Â

Spain occupies the third world position at the moment in the use of the wind energy, behind United States and Germany.

The renewable energies have in Spain 20 percent of market quota regarding the electric power production.Â

The conference of Bonn had been prepared with a preparatory meeting in Madrid on last October, in which 51 countries gave their approval to the creation of IRENA.Â

To the conference of Bonn attend representatives of about 120 countries of which 50 signed the constituent agreement of IRENA.Â

Germany’s Federal Environment Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, underlined at the beginning of the conference that the development of the renewable energy in the entire world still has many obstacles, among those he highlighted that there are still many countries with conventional energy sources.Â

“A quick growth of energies as the solar or wind power continues being blocked by many obstacles”, Gabriel said in the inaugural conference of IRENA.Â

“The market continues being distorted by grants to conventional energy”, Gabriel added.Â

The obstacles that the renewable energies have, according to Gabriel, make necessary the creation of an international organization as IRENA that can channel the political will to overcome the difficulties.Â
Gabriel considers that a great breach still exists among the potential of the renewable energy and the relatively low market quota that they have at the moment.Â

Also, the minister is of the conviction that the renewable energy, besides being key for the protection of the climate, offer big economic possibilities for many countries.Â

“With the technical progresses, the renewable energy are every time a competitive alternative in front of the conventional energy. Also, the technology makes them cheaper year after year”, Gabriel said.Â
In 2008 150.000 million dollars were invested in the entire world, according to Gabriel, in the sector of the renewable energy.Â

The agency will try to foment the use of energies as the wind power or the solar to substitute to the coal, the petroleum and other conventional sources and to advise to the countries that have plans of developing technologies related with it.Â

IRENA is the first international organization that is exclusively in charge of renewable energies.Â
In the list of those that signed the agreement some important countries are missing as United States, Russia, China and Brazil.Â

Gabriel said in this respect, that in some countries a clarification process is still missing, but he expressed his conviction that soon the treaty will be subscribed by more states.Â
Tomorrow will take place the session of installation of the Preparatory Commission, to which all the countries members of the Agency will belong to, that in June will have to determine the headquarters of IRENA and to choose the first director.Â

Germany wants the headquarters of IRENA to stays in Bonn but other countries, among them Spain, have shown interest.Â

Among the candidates to be the first director of IRENA has been insistently mentioned the name of the german social democrat politician Hermann Scheer, that was one of the instigators of the creation of the agency. EFEÂ

Source: Finanzas

Important announcements are made by the minister of Energy in the University of Antofagasta.Â

Authority valued the significant advance in project on Biohydrocarbide that develop scientists of the UA and of the CICITEM. Also, he walked around the facilities where the goldens are cultivated. Â

The creation of a Ministry of Energy, a Center of Renewable Energy, an agency for the implementation of actions of energy efficiency and the constant impulse to the renewable energy development, was announced by the minister of the National Energy Commission, Marcelo Tokman, during a walk around the facilities of the Faculty of Sea Resources of the University of Antofagasta. Â

During the visit, the minister went round the Laboratory of Microbial Ecology and the Unit of Applied Microbiology, where scientists of the UA and of the CICITEM carry out the microalgaes cultivation for the future production of Biohydrocarbides. He also verified the impressive advance that the cultivation project of the golden (species that could become the salmon of the north) has had. Exactly on last Tuesday, the spawning of the first juvenile copies that will be soon transplanted from the cages to the sea took place.Â

BioenergyÂ

Given the constant necessity of fuel and the uncertainty of it in the world markets, minister Tokman explained that “it becomes necessary to analyze the biofuel sources in Chile, two very important ones come into view; the first one the use of the forest resources and the second great opportunity, that is seen here in the north, is the microalgaes”, he specified.Â

The authority, accompanied by the rector of the UA, doctor Luis Alberto Loyola, also highlighted the advantages in the development of this biofuel type in the Segunda Region (Second Region).

“The north has an enormous solar radiation that’s required for the microalgaes cultivation. The University of Antofagasta, is advancing a lot in this process, what requires additional support. It is for this reason that we will call to a consortium, which will help us to impel the relationship between the universities and the companies because the objective it is to replace in the future the diesel that we are importing”, he manifested.Â

Another important announced that the minister made was that in October of 2009 an international seminar on Biofuels (based on microalgaes) will be carried out in Antofagasta, “we want to take advantage of the big conditions, the capacities and the knowledge that are being generated in the city”, he emphasized.Â

New MinistryÂ

Another of the announcements that the Government’s authority made was the prompt concretion of a Ministry of Energy. “We are thinking in the long term and in that sense one of the initiatives are to create this instance, which will have a politician as responsible with all the attributions to be observing the energy sector, not only now but for the future as well, strengthening the analysis capacity. Fortunately this project had very good reception on the part of the parliamentarian, with 81 favorable votes and one against, for what it will go now to its procedure in the Senate”, Tokman pointed out.Â

But the Government’s efforts don’t finish there, it is also sought to create this year another two institutions that would come to support the energy development. “We will create the Center of Renewable Energy and an agency for the implementation of energy efficiency actions, a corporation that will be public-private”, he informed.Â

Golden cultivationsÂ

Taking advantage of the presence of minister Tokman and his delegation composed by representatives of the Regional Government, Corfo and the Regional Agency of Productive Development, investigators of the Faculty of Sea Resources invited the authority to take knowledge of the significant advances that the study on the production of golden presents.Â

They visited the cultivation pools and observed the most recent fruit in this work, the spawns of juvenile specimens, which will be in the future transplanted to the sea, specifically to the facilities that UA possesses in the sector of El Colorado (Peninsula de Mejillones), initiating this way the final stage of the investigation .

Source: Universia/RR

Exemplary enterprise of the small State. RECEPTORS. 2.400 solar panels cover the roof of the audience room. REUTER Â

The installation will help so that 20% of the energy that the Vatican consumes comes from renewable sources by 2020.Â

VATICAN. – A photovoltaic system for the solar energy use was inaugurated officially in the Vatican. The Pope Benedict XVI offered his first general “ecological” audience in the room that leads to the St. Peters Square, on whose roof around 2.400 solar modules were installed during the last two and a half months. Â

This new energy plant has a maximum power of 222 kilowatts and it can annually generate around 300.000 kilowatts / hour, what represents the consumption of more than 100 housings per year. The Pope proclaimed the protection of the environment among the main objectives of his pontificate.Â

In the audience room the concrete panels were replaced by solar modules in a surface of 5.000 square meters. The system, integrated with the architecture of the roof, will offer clean energy, with what the emission of 225 tons of carbon dioxide will be avoided. This installation will help so that by 2020 one fifth of the energy in the Vatican will be obtained from renewable sources. The room has seating capacity for 12.000 people. Its construction was ordered by Pablo VI and finished in 1971. It is named as the “Pablo VI Room” or also the “Nervi Room”, in honor to the architect responsible for the work. On Tuesday, the Vatican received the European Solar Prize 2008, the first distinction for the achieved project, which will supply the room and the bordering buildings.Â

Wind power alternativeÂ

The system that cost 1,5 million Euros (almost U$S 2 millions), was a gift of the SolarWorld company, with headquarters in Germany. With the new system around 80 tons of petroleum will be economized per year. The Vatican is developing other projects of clean energy to cover the necessities of the 44 hectares of its surface, mainly for the heating. The engineer Mauro Villarini, responsible for the project, studies the possibility to also develop wind power energy. The objective is to cover with renewable energy 20% of the energy necessities by 2020. In that way the objectives for the countries of the block fixed by the EU are fulfilled. According to the Protocol of Kyoto, a State can obtain credits on its own polluting gases emission levels, if it finances ecological projects in other countries. The Vatican finances the plantation of forests in Hungary since 2007. (DPA-AFP)Â

Source: La Gaceta