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    Spanish company Ferry Group is to invest €42/US$55.2 million in a project for the production of biomass fuel pellets in Bulgaria. The 3-year project consists of establishing plantations of paulownia trees near the city of Tran. Paulownia is a fast-growing tree used for the commercial production of fuel pellets. Dnevnik - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Hungary's BHD Hõerõmû Zrt. is to build a 35 billion Forint (€138/US$182 million) commercial biomass-fired power plant with a maximum output of 49.9 MW in Szerencs (northeast Hungary). Portfolio.hu - Feb. 20, 2007.

    Tonight at 9pm, BBC Two will be showing a program on geo-engineering techniques to 'save' the planet from global warming. Five of the world's top scientists propose five radical scientific inventions which could stop climate change dead in its tracks. The ideas include: a giant sunshade in space to filter out the sun's rays and help cool us down; forests of artificial trees that would breath in carbon dioxide and stop the green house effect and a fleet futuristic yachts that will shoot salt water into the clouds thickening them and cooling the planet. BBC News - Feb. 19, 2007.

    Archer Daniels Midland, the largest U.S. ethanol producer, is planning to open a biodiesel plant in Indonesia with Wilmar International Ltd. this year and a wholly owned biodiesel plant in Brazil before July, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The Brazil plant is expected to be the nation's largest, the paper said. Worldwide, the company projects a fourfold rise in biodiesel production over the next five years. ADM was not immediately available to comment. Reuters - Feb. 16, 2007.

    Finnish engineering firm Pöyry Oyj has been awarded contracts by San Carlos Bioenergy Inc. to provide services for the first bioethanol plant in the Philippines. The aggregate contract value is EUR 10 million. The plant is to be build in the Province of San Carlos on the north-eastern tip of Negros Island. The plant is expected to deliver 120,000 liters/day of bioethanol and 4 MW of excess power to the grid. Kauppalehti Online - Feb. 15, 2007.

    In order to reduce fuel costs, a Mukono-based flower farm which exports to Europe, is building its own biodiesel plant, based on using Jatropha curcas seeds. It estimates the fuel will cut production costs by up to 20%. New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) - Feb. 12, 2007.

    The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has decided to use 10% biodiesel in its fleet of public buses. The world's largest city is served by the Toei Bus System, which is used by some 570,000 people daily. Digital World Tokyo - Feb. 12, 2007.

    Fearing lack of electricity supply in South Africa and a price tag on CO2, WSP Group SA is investing in a biomass power plant that will replace coal in the Letaba Citrus juicing plant which is located in Tzaneen. Mining Weekly - Feb. 8, 2007.

    In what it calls an important addition to its global R&D capabilities, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is to build a new bioenergy research center in Hamburg, Germany. World Grain - Feb. 5, 2007.

    EthaBlog's Henrique Oliveira interviews leading Brazilian biofuels consultant Marcelo Coelho who offers insights into the (foreign) investment dynamics in the sector, the history of Brazilian ethanol and the relationship between oil price trends and biofuels. EthaBlog - Feb. 2, 2007.

    The government of Taiwan has announced its renewable energy target: 12% of all energy should come from renewables by 2020. The plan is expected to revitalise Taiwan's agricultural sector and to boost its nascent biomass industry. China Post - Feb. 2, 2007.

    Production at Cantarell, the world's second biggest oil field, declined by 500,000 barrels or 25% last year. This virtual collapse is unfolding much faster than projections from Mexico's state-run oil giant Petroleos Mexicanos. Wall Street Journal - Jan. 30, 2007.

    Dubai-based and AIM listed Teejori Ltd. has entered into an agreement to invest €6 million to acquire a 16.7% interest in Bekon, which developed two proprietary technologies enabling dry-fermentation of biomass. Both technologies allow it to design, establish and operate biogas plants in a highly efficient way. Dry-Fermentation offers significant advantages to the existing widely used wet fermentation process of converting biomass to biogas. Ame Info - Jan. 22, 2007.

    Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited is to build a biofuel production plant in the tribal belt of Banswara, Rajasthan, India. The petroleum company has acquired 20,000 hectares of low value land in the district, which it plans to commit to growing jatropha and other biofuel crops. The company's chairman said HPCL was also looking for similar wasteland in the state of Chhattisgarh. Zee News - Jan. 15, 2007.

    The Zimbabwean national police begins planting jatropha for a pilot project that must result in a daily production of 1000 liters of biodiesel. The Herald (Harare), Via AllAfrica - Jan. 12, 2007.

    In order to meet its Kyoto obligations and to cut dependence on oil, Japan has started importing biofuels from Brazil and elsewhere. And even though the country has limited local bioenergy potential, its Agriculture Ministry will begin a search for natural resources, including farm products and their residues, that can be used to make biofuels in Japan. To this end, studies will be conducted at 900 locations nationwide over a three-year period. The Japan Times - Jan. 12, 2007.

    Chrysler's chief economist Van Jolissaint has launched an arrogant attack on "quasi-hysterical Europeans" and their attitudes to global warming, calling the Stern Review 'dubious'. The remarks illustrate the yawning gap between opinions on climate change among Europeans and Americans, but they also strengthen the view that announcements by US car makers and legislators about the development of green vehicles are nothing more than window dressing. Today, the EU announced its comprehensive energy policy for the 21st century, with climate change at the center of it. BBC News - Jan. 10, 2007.

    The new Canadian government is investing $840,000 into BioMatera Inc. a biotech company that develops industrial biopolymers (such as PHA) that have wide-scale applications in the plastics, farmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Plant-based biopolymers such as PHA are biodegradable and renewable. Government of Canada - Jan. 9, 2007.


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Monday, January 08, 2007

European dependence on Russian energy fully exposed, once again

Those who thought 'energy security' and 'energy dependency' were empty buzz-words, must think again. What many had expected has happened: the dispute between Russia and Belarus over gas prices has escalated and now hits oil supplies to Europe.

A quick overview of the facts:
  • Late december: Gazprom announces that it is raising gas prices for Belarus from US$47 per 1000m³ to US$105; if Belarus does not accept the new price, gas supplies will be cut off from January 1 onwards.
  • Last-ditch talks result an agreement on Dec. 31, when Belarus accepts a price of US$100, but Belarussian president Lukashenko immediately announces retaliation
  • Belarus is not in a strong economic or political position and uses the instrument of oil-transit taxes to punish Russia; on each ton of Russian oil that transits through Belarussian pipelines to Europe, a US$45 tax is imposed
  • Russia refuses to pay the tax it deems to be illegal, upon which Belarus starts to siphon off oil as payment in kind for the duties
  • Yesterday and today: Transneft, the state-run Russian pipeline monopoly, cuts off oil supplies to Belarus and therefor to Europe, and annouces it is working to find alternative routes; the cuts mainly affect Germany and Poland
  • Germany and Poland study whether they must start tapping their strategic reserves, worth between 80 and 100 days of oil consumption
This entire episode once again shows how unreliable Russia and the former Soviet Republics are as energy suppliers. A diplomatic call by the European Commission to 'resolve the dispute as quickly as possible' does not hide the structural problem of heavy dependency and the risk of supply disruptions. Last year, in a similar row, Russia cut off gas supplies to the Ukraine, which affected Europe too.

The growth of the European energy dependency rate does not promise anything good for the future. It can be summarised as follows:
  • Oil: 22% of EU oil imports originate from Russia; 45% originate from the the Middle East; by 2030, 90% of EU oil consumption will have to be covered by imports
  • Gas: 40% of EU gas imports originate from Russia (30% Algeria, 25% Norway); By 2030, over 60% of EU gas imports are expected to come from Russia with overall external dependency expected to reach 80%.
  • Coal: By 2030, 66% of EU needs is expected to be covered by imports.
In the short term, there is not much the EU can do to increase its energy security or to lessen its dependency on foreign energy. But in the long run, several options are available. At the Biopact, we think diversifying into biomass and biofuels imports from the South is one of the most feasible, large-scale strategies available. Biomass can substitute all fossil energy sources (solid, gaseous and liquid) and, unlike other renewables, can be transported around the globe. Moreover, when produced in the South, biomass competes with fossil fuels.

No doubt the Belarus-Russia gas dispute, which has now turned into a real theat to European energy security, will dominate the headlines over the coming days. We will be tracking this story closely and look at how it changes European public opinion on energy supply strategies.
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posted by Biopact team at 6:24 PM  

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