Biofuels in Latin America: ongoing research, experiences and potential for the region

central america | Agriculture Energy Policy design

Biofuels in Latin America: ongoing research, experiences and potential for the region

This past March 17 and 18, 2009 the conference “Biofuels in Latin America: Ongoing Research, Experiences and Potential for the Region” took place at the Hotel Bougainvillea in Costa Rica.

Participants on Workshop, March 2009

The conference was co-sponsored by the Environment for Development Program (CATIE) and the College of Natural Resources (University of California, Berkeley) with support from Conservation International (Kukulcan Foundation). There were 45 participants from 10 countries and 22 presentations during the duration of the event. The main goals of the conference were:

To increase an understanding of the issues associated with production and consumption of biofuels in the context of Central America
To increase the ability of stakeholders and researchers in both, developed and developing countries to discuss the impact of biofuels consumption and production in society’s well being
To discuss the potential of biofuels as a realistic energy alternative for the Latin American region.

In order to fulfill the above goals sessions were organized around the following topics:

Rural development
Land use
Supply/Demand issues

Participants at the event represented a wide variety of institutional and professional backgrounds from academics to the private sector and economics to chemical engineering, which resulted in a lively and profound discussion of issues associated with biofuels.

Besides CATIE and the University of California (Berkeley) other institutions participating at the event were: Cornell University, The University of Costa Rica, National University of Costa Rica, Ministry of the Environment of Costa Rica, The Nature Conservancy, Conservation International (Kukulkan Foundation), National University of Colombia (Manizales), San Carlos University of Guatemala and University of California (Davis) among others.

Some of the conference’s thematic highlights are:

While most participants agreed with the need to develop alternative energy sources to fossil based fuels, there was less consensus on the nature of the contribution of the production of biofuels to the development of the rural sector, particularly for Central America.

Although the incorporation of economic and agronomic data in models that analyze the feasibility of biofuels is needed, this type of analysis is data intensive and more efforts need to be undertaken to obtain such data for the Latin American region.

While it is clear that some countries with long experience in the production of biofuels such as Brazil and Colombia are well positioned to continue with their production the same can not be said for other geographical areas such as Central America, and much research needs to be undertaken in order to fully understand what role, if any, biofuels will play in the energy sector of some countries.

One of the most challenging aspects of biofuel production and consumption is to incorporate its study into a broader analysis where food security, energy needs and socio economic development (including equity issues) are taken into consideration and incorporated into the final impact of biofuels on social welfare.

A more vigorous collaboration between the different stakeholders (NGOs, research institutions, private sector, local and national governments, etc) is needed in order to fully understand what are the socio-economic implications of the production and consumption of biofuels in Latin America, particularly in regards to Central America.