Become a PANGEA Member!
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PANGEA Members benefit from a number of great services including: funding alerts, discounts to international conferences, lobbying in EU and Africa, policy updates, consulting services, networking and professional introductions, and project partnership matching. To become a member, please visit: http://pangealink.org/membership or contact briana@pangealink.org
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Note from the Secretary General:
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Brussels is reawakening
from its sleepy summer but PANGEA has spent this time preparing for the
upcoming year, and we're off to a running start. With two new membership
coordinators and two new stagiaires now on staff, we're delving into the new EU season with lots of new energy and
ideas.
Some of the issues of the
past are still following us, like accusations of landgrabbing and the Indirect
Land Use Change (ILUC) debate, but we're well prepared to tackle those and new
issues that may come along. With the Renewable Energy Directive set to come
into effect at the end of the year, there's a lot of work to be done
understanding what the demand will be for biofuels from Member States.
We're also talking to
foundations about funding a series of investor workshops for bioenergy project
development in Africa next year, as well as making sure as many of our African
members can attend the World Biofuels Market conference in Rotterdam next
spring. I am truly honoured that the Energy Minister of Mozambique kindly invited me to be part of his
delegation at the High Level Meeting on the Africa-Europe Energy Partnership
later this month in Vienna that will see the launch of the AEEP renewable energy
strategy. Lastly, we're hoping to wrap up this month with funding
for a major study on Food and Fuel
Co-Production to be undertaken on our behalf by the very capable bioenergy
team at the Copernicus Institute, University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Keep an eye out for some
new members coming on board, and don't forget to check out the news from some of
our current members within this newsletter. As always, our door is open (see
about our new offices below) so please make sure to keep in touch.
Vive la rentrée!
Meghan Sapp, Secretary General
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Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) Consultation - deadline 31 Oct 2010
|  As part of the European Union's Renewable Energy Directive (RED), the European Commission is required to submit a report by the end of 2010 on how to address the issue of ILUC in the directive's sustainability criteria. There has been a lot of debate in the political, private sector and academic spheres on how to best address ILUC.
The Directorate General of Energy (DG ENER) has launched public consultations on ILUC which are due by 31 October 2010. The European Commission will take these comments into consideration before preparing their final report in December 2010.
PANGEA is actively working with several partners and key players in Brussels and abroad to determine the best way to address ILUC so that it will not become a non-tariff trade barrier for African biofuel producers wishing to export to the EU. PANGEA is currently preparing its submission for the public consultation and invites any interested members to contact the Secretary General, Meghan Sapp (meghan@pangealink.org), with questions or comments before the deadline.
For more information on the consultation and to download the relevant documents, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/energy/renewables/consultations/2010_10_31_iluc_and_biofuels_en.htm
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Featured Article on ILUC & Africa in
FO Lichts World Ethanol & Biofuel Report
|  PANGEA's Secretary General, Meghan Sapp, was invited to write a feature article entitled, "ILUC and the International Development Agenda - The Case of Africa."
The four-page article outlines the challenges facing policy makers and researchers to determine the real impact of Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC) and how it applies (or does not) to the African biofuel context. "Just as iLUC is
complicated and inter-twined with a dozen or more issues, so must the policy
response be. There must be macro policy that protects the planet's forests and
highly biodiverse resources. There must be regional and national policies that
map and protect, not just in terms of law but also in terms of implementation,
that ensure that bioenergy projects-and anything else that uses land, from mining
to agriculture-do not destroy these precious resources."The FO Lichts article is by subscription only but has been made available to PANGEA members via the Members Only website http://pangealink.org/members-only-2. |
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PANGEA Member News
|  BSI submits sustainability certification application to the EUIn early August, the Better Sugarcane Initiative (BSI) submitted its application to the European Commission to be recognised as a voluntary sustainability certification scheme. BSI was one of the first organisations to submit an application, and if approved, BSI-certified sugarcane ethanol exporters to the EU will be able to satisfy the EU's biofuel sustainability criteria under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED). www.bettersugar.org |
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PANGEA Member News
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Project Gaia publishes a new wikipedia page
Project
Gaia has just announced the launch of its new wikipedia page that
highlights the organisation's activities, projects and key information
on the benefits and practical applications of ethanol stoves.
Project
Gaia is a U.S. non-governmental, non-profit organization involved in
the creation of a commercially viable household market for
alcohol-based fuels in Ethiopia and other countries in the developing
world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gaia |
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Update on the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels (RSB) |  In June 2010, RSB held a Steering Board
meeting to discuss the terms of reference, steering board member positions, and
the vision of RSB. The Steering Board agreed that the RSB certification should
give equal importance to all the principles and criteria and include all fuels
and feedstocks that produce biofuels.
The Steering Board agreed to proceed with
the "Allocation method" for calculating GHG emissions for co-products. A target
for GHG threshold was set consensually as 50% lower than the respective fossil
fuel baseline. The 50% target can be an average achieved by blending different
biofuels, all of which must have a GHG balance lower than the fossil fuel
baseline. This approach is expected to result in significant economic incentives
for feedstock and fuel producers to improve their performance over time, and
for advanced biofuels to increase production as they will be more attractive to
blenders. Secondly, this approach does not exclude any feedstock and pathway by
definition, since the vast majority of biofuels could qualify for a better
"carbon" number than their fossil fuel equivalent, especially with improved
management of cultivation and refinery efficiency.
An online version of the RSB tool was
introduced. This tool currently includes the European Renewable Energy
Directive (RED) standards, as well as the RSB standard.
A resolution was made to further discuss the
use of "system expansion" for Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) calculation and to
incorporate Indirect Land Use Change (ILUC). Currently, ILUC is not included in
the GHG emission calculation. A report regarding the indirect impacts of
biofuels from the Rio de Janeiro conference in June 2010 is available on the
RSB website. During the conference discussion topics included ILUC, food
security, low-risk practices and feedstocks. Also, how to address these issues
in the RSB Standard was discussed. Subsequently the RSB
secretariat will publish a "Way Forward on Indirect Impacts"
document.
Information regarding the two pilot
projects in Mozambique and South America were presented to the RSB Steering
Board. The project owners in Mozambique felt comfortable with meeting the RSB
standards but were unclear about the self risk assessment section. The projects
in Latin America have conducted their self evaluations and are now awaiting
audits. Based on the results of the pilot studies the RSB will revise the
principles and criteria, which will lead to the creation of version 2.0 of the
standard.
In line with the long term vision of the
RSB, Vice Chair Khoo Hock Aun proposed creating two new entities out of the RSB
by 2011 - one would be RSB Standards that would continue to function as the
existing RSB does, and a new RSB Services division that would handle the
operation and implementation of the standards.
To learn more about RSB, please visit: http://energycenter.epfl.ch/page65660.html
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Upcoming Events
|  13-15 September 2010: First High-Level Meeting of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership (AEEP), Vienna, AustriaPANGEA is proud to have been invited to attend this high-level meeting by the Mozambican Minister of Energy. The meeting will bring together EU Commissioners and officials, African Ministers, representatives from the African Union, and industry experts to
discuss the Africa-EU Energy Partnership.
At the meeting, participants will agree
on concrete targets for AEEP's future work until 2020, and launch
the Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme to create new linkages in the energy/economic sector for industrial trade and business cooperation between Africa and Europe.
For more information on the event, please visit: http://www.aeep-conference.org/
6-7 October 2010: Jatropha World 2010,
Rotterdam, The Netherlands The conference will bring together leading experts to discuss cultivation, breeding, processing, production, and a market outlook for Jatropha oil and co-products. For more information or to register, please visit: http://www.futureenergyevents.com/jatropha/jatrophaworld-2010/
11-14 October 2010: Agriculture Outlook
Africa 2010, Johannesburg, South Africa
PANGEA is a strategic partner for the conference and will be hosting a one-day
workshop entitled "Trade, Not Aid: Links with India and Brazil" on 11 October
2010. The Secretary General will also be speaking at the conference on the importance of developing regional biofuel markets in Africa.
PANGEA members receive a 10% discount on conference registration
fees. For more information on the event or to register, please visit: http://www.terrapinn.com/2010/agriza/
9-12 November 2010: World Refining
Association Biofuels 2010 Conference, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 
The conference will bring together global experts to talk about the most current issues facing the biofuels industry. Also, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) will be announcing its new bioenergy policy for the entire African continent.
PANGEA's
Secretary General will be
chairing the roundtable on African opportunities.
For more information, please visit: http://www.wraconferences.com/2/4/articles/149.php?
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PANGEA is now part of Mundo-b!
|  As of 1 September, PANGEA's offices are now located in the Mundo-b building, a new concept in Brussels focused on sustainability, energy and environment.
Mundo-b is the Brussels Sustainability House and home to several environmental and energy NGOs committed to sustainability. It is a great space for working, networking, hosting events, workshops and conferences. It is becoming the hub of sustainability in Brussels and PANGEA is excited to be a part of it.
All PANGEA members will be able to use the Mundo-b facilities whenever they are visiting Brussels.
For more information on the concept and services offered, please visit www.mundo-b.org
Mundo-b Rue d'Edimbourg, 26 B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
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About Partners for Euro-African Green Energy (PANGEA)
PANGEA is an international bioenergy trade association that acts as a platform to create a sustainable bioenergy industry in Africa.
PANGEA lobbies governments, provides a network for the industry, and shares knowledge on best practices in both the EU and Africa. Its members produce, blend, trade, research and support the development of sustainable bioenergy in Africa.
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