It is essential to encourage biofuels production in developing countries as the concentration of the energy supply in a few oil producing countries is a threat to global energy security, Daniel da Fonseca, a representative of the Brazilian Ministry of External Relations, argued at a recent bio- fuels seminar, held in Durban.

The seminars are being held in seven Southern African Deve- lopment Community countries – Botswana, South Africa, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Mozambique – as part of Brazil’s mission to share its experience in biofuels with other developing countries, with Da Fonseca speaking on Brazilian international cooperation in bioenergy.

Thirty-three English- and Portuguese-speaking countries from Africa and Asia have also been invited to send represen- tatives to attend courses in Brazil on the production of sugar-cane-based ethanol. Government Mandates
Da Fonseca said a driving factor in Brazil’s mission was the conclusion reached at the International Conference on Biofuels, in Sao Paulo, in November 2008, that public poli- cies that included government mandates for blending biofuels with petrol were required as a long-term strategy to incorporate biofuels into the global energy mix.

The South African govern- ment, however, did not mandate a regulatory blend in its indus- trial biofuels strategy approved by Cabinet in December 2007. Mandatory Blend

The Brazilian government, on the other hand, has had a mandatory blend for motor vehicles since the 1970s.
South African Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries director of engineering At van Coller said the South African government’s stra- tegy on biofuels, which has an implementation period of five years, also excluded the use of maize and jatropha as feedstock.

Explaining government’s decision, he said South Africa had limited agricultural potential and that only one-third of the country received more than 600 mm of rain a year.

“South Africa also experiences regular droughts and agricultural production variations are linked to these,” he said. “National food security may be at risk if crops other than those that can be used for both food and biofuel production are used.”

He said biofuel production should take place with surplus crops after food security requirements had been met.

“To develop a biofuels sector in South Africa, the biggest single cost saving measure is to limit transport of the feedstock and all products derived from it,” he said. “The biofuels sector should be built on a large enough reserve of surplus products produced in good years.”

However, he pointed out that the present electricity crisis and the recession had diverted funds away from the biofuels initiative and that there were no subsidies for agricultural production in South Africa.

Da Fonseca said Brazil had one of the cleanest energy mixes in the world, with 46% of its energy produced from renewable sources, positioning it as an important player in the international debate on climate change. In the global energy mix, renewable sources account for only 13% of energy production.

“Based on its achievements in the energy sector, Brazil intends to contribute to the development of cleaner and more sustainable patterns of the production and use of energy at a global level,” Da Fonseca said.

However, he stressed that biofuels should not result in deforestation and should never jeopardise food production. Agroecological zoning would be an essential tool in this context, he said.

The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation’s Fábio Marin said agricultural zoning started in Brazil in 1995. “Farmers are told the best sowing dates, taking into account the differences among crops and soil types, which assures an 80% success rate,” he said. “No public agricultural funding or agricultural insurance is given to farmers who do not implement these recommendations.”

Fabio said agricultural zon- ing had decreased agricul- tural losses due to adverse climate events and had contri- buted to the yield and production increase in Brazil.

“Sugar cane agroecological zoning will also regulate the expansion of sugar cane to new areas, reconciling the economic production of sugar cane and etha- nol with environmental preservation and food production,” he said.

However, José Vieira, a respresentative of the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food Supply, said, while there were risks associated with bio- fuels production, benefits included energy diversification and a reduction in dependence on energy imports, as well as job creation and income distribution.

Da Fonseca pointed out that dependence on imported sources of energy increased the vulnerability of developing countries, endangering their economic prosperity.

Vieira said bioenergy would be a great opportunity for deve- loping countries and that the Brazilian experience suggested that it was possible to harmonise food and biofuels production in a sustainable way.

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