ACP Policy Briefs
Potential for second-generation biofuels in developing countries
By International Energy Agency (IEA), February 2010. IIED has published an information paper entitled ‘Sustainable Production of Second-Generation Biofuels: Potential and Perspectives in Major Economies and Developing Countries”. The paper focuses on opportunities and risks presented by second-generation biofuels technologies in eight case study countries: Brazil, Cameroon, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania and Thailand. The report begins by exploring state-of-the-art second-generation technologies and their production, followed by projections of future demand and a discussion of drivers of that demand. The report then delves into various feedstock options and the global potential for bioenergy production. The final chapter offers a look at the potential for sustainable second-generation biofuel production in developing countries including considerations of economic, social and environmental impacts.
2/03/2010
Brussels Rural Development Briefings reader: Resources on ACP food security and the global economic crisis
Food security is a flexible concept as reflected in the many attempts at definition in research and policy usage. The continuing evolution of food security as an operational concept in public policy has reflected the wider recognition of the complexities of the technical and policy issues involved. The most recent careful redefinition of food security is that negotiated in the process of international consultation leading to the World Food Summit (WFS) in November 1996. The contrasting definitions of food security adopted in 1974 and 1996, along with those in official FAO and World Bank documents of the mid-1980s are set out below with each substantive change in definition underlined. A comparison of these definitions highlights the considerable reconstruction of official thinking on food security that has occurred over 25 years. These statements also provide signposts to the policy analyses, which have re-shaped our understanding of food security as a problem of international and national responsibility.
23/02/2010
ACP Policy brief n. 15: From global food crisis to local food insecurity
On 9th December 2009, CTA and other partners convened the 15th ‘Brussels Development Briefing’ - part of a series of bimonthly Development Briefings on ACP-EU rural development issues. 115 participants gathered in Brussels to discuss the impacts of the global food crisis on ACP countries food security.For more information visit Brussels briefings
23/02/2010
Caribbean sees biofuels development as a way ahead amid crisis
Cash-strapped Caribbean countries are seeking energy independence through bioenergy development but are hamstrung by poor organization and limited initiatives. UNDP sources said recent biofuel advances in the Small Island Developing States promised a greater reliance on regional resources - "south-south cooperation" - to cut dependence on imported fuel and food. But the targets for self-sufficiency were far from being reached because of lack of expertise, cash resources and access to new technologies, reports on recent studies and surveys indicated. Caribbean states are looking to build capacity for biofuels produced from organic waste. Technologies now exist to convert plants, garden waste and manure into charcoal, biodiesel, ethanol or gaseous fuels but are not yet available to the Caribbean states. The region is also looking more actively into wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower power. The overarching aim is to build cooperation between the countries of the region so they can make use of sustainable energy services and enhance their energy security. (Source: UPI, 29 September 2009)
4/11/2009
Wonder weed Jatropha fails to flourish
The promise of green gold is fading from Jatropha curcas, a shrub that thrives in arid conditions and whose seeds yield a diesel-like oil. Many had seen it as a potential saviour for marginal lands, a plant that could lift developing countries out of poverty and into a sustainable oily future. Just last year, some analysts predicted that the area planted with jatropha worldwide — at the time, 721,000 hectares — would rise as high as 22 million hectares by 2014. But, out of 140 investments made in biofuels so far this year, says an analyst of London-based New Energy Finance, only four or five have been in jatropha projects. Early investors are now realizing the plant's limitations. Jatropha can live in very dry conditions, but does not necessarily yield a lot of seeds. The plant takes three years or more to reach maturity, requiring care along the way, and jatropha seedlings are often not well-suited to the climate in which they are planted. Although jatropha may not be a saviour plant, it is likely to find its niche as a local alternative in certain developing countries. (Source: Nature, 16 September 2009)
4/11/2009
E-mail Newsletter
