CTA

Documents (online)

Jatropha - wonder crop?" Experience from Swaziland

The search for alternatives to fossil fuel has seen a rush towards biofuels. This is contributing to rising food prices and increasing concern about our ability to grow enough food and fuel. Despite social and environmental concerns and unproven climate benefits of biofuels, the EU has set a target of 10% of transport fuel to come from biofuels by 2020.

3/07/2009

Can biofuels be sustainable by 2020?

By Wageningen UR, Ecofys, ECN and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL). A joint study of Wageningen University and Research Centre, Ecofys, ECN and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) concludes that not all the sustainability criteria as set by the Dutch Cramer Committee for biofuels will be met if the Netherlands aims at a 10% blending by 2020. This analysis is not considering additional policies to mitigate these negative aspects of biofuels or to stimulate biofuels that are meeting the sustainability criteria.

10/07/2009

Biofuel industry study: Tanzania: An assessment of the current situation

By WWF-TPO, March 2009. Biofuels remain a highly contentious issue in Tanzania. There has been a huge wave of foreign investors into the country since 2005. Many of these investors are proposing that they will be carrying out socially and environmentally responsible programmes, however details surrounding how precisely they will achieve these remain unclear. The overall aim of this study is to highlight, with concrete examples, the challenges involved as large-scale biofuel investments are carried out in Tanzania. Following a previous WWF study into biofuels, this study aims to look at some of the major issues involved with biofuels in Tanzania and assess how investors can develop their businesses successfully, whilst simultaneously mitigating negative environmental impacts and maximising gains for rural development and Tanzania in general.

1/03/2010

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