has been published by CTA (Centre for Technical Agriculture support to
ACP countries) this month with contributions from SOPAC.
It concludes:
" ACP countries can play an important role in biofuel production,
because of their natural endowment – climate, arable land and water
resources (Figure 8). National strategies can ensure biofuel benefits
will not only go towards importers of biofuels such as the EU and the US
but also to the producer countries in the ACP region. This requires ACP
governments to take action now, investing in a competitive agricultural
sector, taking into account the linkages between biofuels, livestock and
fisheries.
ACP Governments must act and increase investment for sustaining science,
technology and innovation infrastructure with emphasis on building human
resource capacity and physical infrastructure to support the product
development and technological breakthroughs that are relevant to a
competitive agricultural sector, that can sustain biofuel production.
Scientists must be mindful of the linkages between biofuels, livestock
and fisheries and societal goals of food and nutrition security and
economic prosperity.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
The observations and analysis in this paper lead to the following
recommendations.
* Implement National Biofuel Strategies
ACP Governments in consultation with scientists, engineers and the
general public should formulate strategies aimed at addressing critical
issues such as promoting and sustaining local demand for biofuels.
Targets should be set so that biofuels account for a share of the fossil
fuel market. In addition, they should determine blending ratios;
establish biofuel standards, recommend production modalities and
consider environmental and social concerns and providing appropriate
investment and consumption incentives.
* Institute Legal and regulatory framework
ACP Governments in consultation with scientists, engineers and the
general public must set up a legal and regulatory framework aimed at
guiding and regulating the biofuel industry and avoid negative
environmental impact of the biofuel industry. There is a need to find a
balance between biofuel commodity export and national consumption.
Promote integrated agro-energy farming policies
ACP Governments in consultation with scientists, engineers and the
general public to take into account the interconnectedness of the
biofuel industries with livestock, farming, fisheries, and the
conservation of forests and watershed areas to ensure maximising
national benefits and sustainable development. This integrated approach
is also important for coherent and sustainable water and land management.
* Support ACP Biofuel Research
ACP Governments in consultation with scientists, engineers and the
general public and international partners such as the EU should support
local and regional research into evaluating and producing suitable
feedstocks; process and logistics optimisation; economic analysis for
cost effective solutions; adapting and transfer of technologies, such as
ligno-cellulosic conversion; searching locally appropriate alternatives
to existing biofuels; resource assessment, including the use of GIS and
support laboratory capacity for the analysis of biofuel produced to
ensure compliance with quality standards.
The full paper can be downloaded from :
http://www.sopac.org/tiki/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=1478
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Check for earlier Pacific Biofuel posts: http://pacbiofuel.blogspot.com/
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