Latin America and the Caribbean
FAO as a knowledge generation, dissemination and analysis organization, is providing assistance to member countries for development and diversification of the energy matrix of the Region. The development of bioenergy is one of the key challenges facing the region and should be carried out, ensuring to take advantage of the opportunities that this new energy type presents and avoiding the risks they may have for food security, and social and environmental sustainability.
Regarding this topic, the Latin America and Caribbean Regional Office (FAO-RLC) has given priority to the assessment and monitoring of four policies considered important for the promotion of sustainable bioenergy:
1. Policies regulating markets for products and services, that clearly define the regulatory framework for the use of biofuels, trade rules, incentives and taxes, etc.
2. Policies that improve the contractual (formal/informal) relations between the various actors involved in the bioenergy production chain i.e. from primary production to final consumer, including the incorporation of family farming and the guarantee of labor rights.
3. Land use and Land development policies, starting with an agro ecological zoning, indicative of the available land for biomass production; management of incentives and penalties for use of forests, water and other natural resources.
4. Technology-related policies to explore all possibilities of native biomass, especially those that are accessible to small farmers and are small-scale technology-oriented, both for the agricultural sector as well as for the transformation industry.
These policies apply to the three different pillars of the bioenergy chain, i.e. production of biomass; processing industry/technology that transforms raw materials into secondary energy carriers (biodiesel, ethanol, biogas, bio-oil, agri pellets, etc.), and finally the consumer market.
FAO-RLC will give priority to the production of biomass from small (medium) farms, which use small/medium-scale technology to produce bioenergy and are primarily aimed at local consumption or to the domestic market.
Through the experience of FAO in the various themes and proper guidance to its member countries, RLC expects to contribute to the Millennium Development Goals, particularly the one of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by promoting sustainable development of bioenergy.
The thematic group of Bioenergy of the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean is developing initiatives to assess, in the different member countries, the state of the art of the different biofuel´s policies and initiatives, and their potential impact on food security. RLC is also testing FAO methodologies for evaluating territories for sustainable bioenergy production, as part of the Land use and development policy. The group is coordinating its activities and efforts with other regional institutions as Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), Interamerican Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPAL).
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Contact
Regional Office: FAO-RLC@fao.org