Washington, June 7 - Delivering the keynote speech at the WorldWatch Institute conference “Biofuels for Transportation: Global Potential and Implications for Sustainable Agriculture, Energy, and Security in the 21st Century”, Paul Wolfowitz singled out Brazil's President Lula for special praise for his efforts on behalf of Brazil's biofuels market.

 

"I remember very vividly meeting with President Lula in his office and the enthusiasm with which he presented to me the display of various types of nuts and other potential sources of bio fuel.  For this very remarkable President, and he is a remarkable President, bio fuel is near the top of his agenda.  And later, during the course of my visit, I got a chance to see in a number of dramatic ways exactly why.  I got to visit one of the large sugar cane manufacturing areas in Brazil, where they are producing ethanol on an enormous scale and with exceptional efficiency.  And then, I got a very vivid presentation of how ethanol prices have been steadily coming down in Brazilian industry at the same time that global energy prices have been coming up".

"I guess to conclude, while in the short run, ethanol from sugar cane may offer the best chance for commercial viability, in the long-term, manufactured ethanol from cellulose offers the greatest hopes.  This technology, which is so far only developed on a pilot scale, uses new catalysts and enzymes to speed up natural processes.  The advantage is that it does not rely on valuable crops.  It can use waste products, such as straw, corn stalks, or agricultural debris.  Their widespread availability, low cost, and the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions make this technology attractive".

 

Read the full speech here: 

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/NEWS/

0,,contentMDK:20954071~pagePK:34370~piPK:34424~theSitePK:4607,00.html

 

Editorial comment: One of the "nuts" that President Lula showed Wolfowitz must have been the seed of Jatropha Curcas, which is native to Brazil and is a primary feedstock in the biodiesel industry.  Commercial varieties of Jatropha are killed by frost, but there have been persistant rumours of a frost-resistant variety growing around just one village in the North of Brazil. 

 

The only 'evidence' I can find that there may be something to this story is an entry on the 'Jatropha Guestbook', in which Mr Roberval Lech Guerreiro of Parana State, Brazil, speaks of the frost-resistant Jatropha that grows in his part of the country.  Presumably the frost in Brazil is kinder than the frost in, say, Wisconsin, but perhaps there is a project here for a plant geneticist to come up with a truly hardy Jatropha?

 

If such a variety were found, companies that are currently involved in extensive planting of Jatropha in the tropics, (such as the UK's D1 Oils), would be able to get their feedtstock much closer to home. 

 

Mr. Guerrreiro's guestbook entry is number 57, and can be found here: http://two.guestbook.de/gb.cgi?gid=314167&prot=bsypul&eid=0&skip=400.

 

David Smith, Singapore