The Latin American Energy Organization (Olade) in alliance with the United States Grains Council (US Grains Council), addressed the prospects for the region, analyzing the success stories of fuel decarbonization in Brazil, the United States and the European Union. This seminar held in two days on May 19 and 26, 2021.
Around 70 government officials from 19 countries in the region participated in this event, which aimed to promote the use of biofuels as the most reliable source to achieve government objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
At the opening of the Seminar, the executive secretary of Olade, Alfonso Blanco, stressed that “the issue of biofuels in our region has to start to take a new momentum, we have the need to take advantage of existing resources for the production of biofuels. It is a strategy that is viable and necessary and we have the potential to develop it throughout our region.”
The executive secretary explained that there are clear examples of success in the region, regarding the incorporation of biofuels and the development of policies to promote them. In this context, he stressed that there are also extra-regional experiences that link biofuels in the economic development and productive development of the countries, as is the case of the United States.
Furthermore, he pointed out that the US Grains Council has an important role in the global promotion of the approach to biofuels as an alternative for economic decarbonization.
Likewise, the executive secretary of Olade, Alfonso Blanco, identified the need to work on technical support for the development of public policies on biofuels in Latin America and the Caribbean. “We have to provide the necessary technical analyzes so that they are part of the political decision-making in the design and sectoral planning of our entire region.”
Regarding the memorandum of understanding between Olade and the US Grains Council, the executive secretary mentioned “we are proud to start this joint work with the same horizon within the framework of a memorandum of understanding that we have signed between Olade and the US Grains Council.”
Marri Tejada, regional director for Latin America of the US Grains Council, expressed being happy to work with Olade in this event, supporting all those who make the policies and promoting the new transitions and decarbonization.
During the development of the event, the invited speakers motivated governments to deploy a set of various measures, including the incorporation of renewable energy sources to have better opportunities to achieve the ambitious decarbonization goals.
Workshop attendees learned about the perspectives of biofuels in Latin America and listened to case studies from Brazil, Europe and the United States that showed experiences of ethanol policies that contribute to decarbonization.
Below, we share the links to access the recordings of the two sessions.
May 26: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TE8sCwJmx-Q0HTDRY5WXhuKWVZ8exq8W/view?usp=sharing
May 19: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BTRc3Q-bMlbMBAUeWK7p3QlTL0gylJlN/view
Communication Department
and Institutional Relations
gabriela.jarrin@olade.org