Happy New Year! Though Brussels is still quietly awaking from its holiday-induced slumber, we at PANGEA are running at full speed getting 2011 off to a great start. We saw 2010 end with signing new partnership agreements that ought to bring some pretty major changes to PANGEA come mid-year, but we'll tell you all more about that as we get further along. We're constructing a new research platform that ought to be a game-change for the industry, bringing together scientists from across Africa, Europe, Brazil and India all under one roof so that Africa can benefit from the best bioenergy science has to offer. We're very excited about that, plus we're looking to hold our very first event in the European Parliament this spring. Again, more details will follow when those get confirmed.

Two exciting announcements: First, we want to welcome our newest Premium member to PANGEA, Sweden's very own Scania. Scania is a global transportation company who is doing a world's first--bringing ethanol-run buses to Africa. We're very happy to have them on board, so please check out some more information about them below. Also exciting this year is PANGEA's sponsorship of the Green Shoots award at the World Biofuels Markets conference in Rotterdam coming up in March.

Sustainably produced biofuels is at the heart of what we're working for, so we feel it's important to recognise and support those new players as they come into the field.

Last, but not least, I want to welcome on board our newest staff member, Annalisa Volse. Annalisa was one of our interns last semester and has by far outshone any we've had in a long time so we're very excited to have her on the team as Programme Assistant. She quickly became our in-house expert on the Roundtable of Sustainable Biofuels and closely monitors several vital committees within the European Parliament, so we look forward to seeing a lot of great things from her in the future.

Best wishes for a prosperous and happy 2011!

Meghan Sapp, Secretary General

5th Scania Transport Conference

World Biofuels Markets

EU Sustainable Energy Week

The Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace

The Africa-Brazil Agricultural Innovation Marketplace is an international initiative supported by different donors aiming to link Brazilian and African experts and institutions to develop cooperative projects.

The aim is to enhance agricultural innovation and development on the African continent, promote investments in agricultural research and development as well as mutually contribute to the achievement of the United Nation Millennium Development Goals. It will promote knowledge exchange between Africa and Brazil, and support agricultural development in Africa in line with the African Union-NEPAD-CAADP.
 

Partners include African national and sub-regional agricultural research and development organizations including the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and The World Bank (WB).
 

Embrapa's millet and sorghum division and PANGEA member Pipal Ltd. have been awarded one of the first six grants (US $80,000) in order to focus for two years on sweet sorghum varietal improvement in Kenya. While sugarcane can currently grow in less that 5% of Kenya, multi- purpose (food, fodder and fuel) sweet sorghum has the potential to be available in up to 45% of the country and so has the potential to involve many more small holders in increased ethanol production for domestic use. We look forward to hearing the results. 

European Parliament

EU-ACP Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA): The 2 0th Session of the JPA was held in Kinshasa (DRC) from 30 November to 4 December. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and ACP parliamentarians adopted the text on Climate Change : Cancun must accelerate technology transfer towards the South. This must be accompanied by a transfer of scientific, human capacity and know-how in order to enable ACP countries to maintain these green technologies. The ACP members also underlined that despite  promises, the EU is €20 billion short of its development spending commitments.

The 21st Session will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from 16-18 May 2011.

Committee Updates

PANGEA regularly follows the following committees: Agriculture (AGRI), Development (DEVE), Industry, Research & Energy (ITRE), International Trade (INTA) and Environment, Public Health & Food Safety (ENVI).

AGRI: The issue of food security in developing countries was thoroughly discussed in committee as these countries have been deeply affected by food price spikes. MEPs suggested different solutions, and some mentioned the issue of food VS fuel, but finally energy crops that do not compete with food were considered as one solution. On the contrary, the ENVI Committee came to the conclusion that to ensure food security, it would be necessary to use all the available land and to support an integrated agriculture. This can involve the use of energy crops, of which some parts are edible, in order to avoid food vs fuel competition. The semester ended with Agriculture Commissioner Ciolos presenting the Communication on the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP) 2013 to the AGRI committee. The CAP will be based on two pillars and remain the strategic policy of the EU, but sustainability and competitiveness have been added as key new elements.

DEVE: Development Commissioner Pieblags asked to hear from MEPs regarding their priorities for development cooperation. He stated that agriculture and sustainable development are fundamental, as well as supporting good governance. Energy and environmental issues must be part of the development cooperation, and Europe must help developing countries not to make the same mistakes the EU made regarding energy consumption and GHG emissions. Africa has a huge amount of renewable sources (especially biomass) and these can support development.

INTA: The committee discussed several times the relationship between trade and environment. A draft report on Trade Policy within the imperatives created by Climate Change presented by MEP Yannick Jadot (France - Green) underlined that increasing trade of environmental goods and services can have a positive impact. It is therefore necessary to define criteria for environmental technologies such as sustainability criteria for biofuels. Deforestation and some agricultural practices that have a negative impact on climate change must be carefully assessed and cannot be systematically sustained in developing countries. The Committee also discussed the draft opinion called Towards a new energy strategy for Europe 2011-2020 proposed by the ITRE Committee. This opinion suggests to "reaffirm the importance of increasing the EU's role in building and modernizing energy infrastructure in developing countries through public-private partnerships and joint ventures, thus promoting energy-mix diversification in those countries."  

ITRE: MEP Mrs. Lena Kolarska-Bobinska (Poland - EPP) presented a report onthe new energy strategy for Europe 2011-2020. The report is in favor of a wide energetic mix, including more renewable and local. Two articles of the report mentioned biofuels: the introduction of Strategic Energy Technology (SET-Plan) initiatives for CCS experiments on GHG emissions from gas power plants and biofuels and the development of cooperation between Member States (MS) and the EU Commission to guarantee that all necessary initiatives are taken to establish a sustainable market for biomass. Many MEPs made their points clear during the discussion: the ALDE group believes development of bioenergy should be more sustained especially biofuels of second generation. EPP also supports R&D in renewable energies, including bioenergy.

For more information or clarification on EP committees, please contact briana@pangealink.org

During a very quiet summer, PANGEA did something just a little bit sneaky. We managed to get the lead story-a total of four pages-in the industry leading publication FO Licht Sugar & Ethanol Report, bringing to light issues regarding the African perspective on Indirect Land Use Change. Or rather, that because biofuels encourage more food and agriculture production in Africa, rather than replacing food production as in the case in many other parts of the world, that there's no such thing as ILUC in Africa. We know this to be true, but to those who hadn't seen the issue from that direction, it was quite shocking. All the better.

ILUC events purporting misinformation about the issue continued throughout the autumn in Brussels, led mainly by anti-biofuels organisations in an attempt to get the European Parliament-and European voters as a whole-to drop the biofuel mandate from the Renewable Energy Directive. This was all leading up to the long-awaited report from the European Commission that would decide what steps to take next with the issue and if there should be specific legislative action taken to address ILUC. Just before Christmas, the report was finally released (and is available on the Members Only section of our website) which basically said yes, ILUC is an issue, no, we don't know what to do about it, and yes, we'll keep thinking.

It was a bit anti-climatic, but at the same time, we were very happy to see that the EC didn't decide-at least right now-to implement an ILUC 'factor' (a penalty in the greenhouse gas calculations for all biofuels) across the board. Our sources within the European Parliament tell us that there's talk about a factor for different kinds of biofuels, something we could potentially support depending on how the details emerge and how it would affect future biofuel exports from Africa. As always, with ILUC, watch this space.

Africa-EU Energy Partnership, 13-15 Sept 2010 - Vienna, Austria 
 

Thanks to the invitation by HE Salvador Namburete, Minister of Energy of Mozambique, PANGEA's Secretary General was invited to participate in the first High Level meeting of the Africa-EU Energy Partnership as part of his delegation. The meeting was the first gathering of ministers under the auspices of the new AEEP, which is intended to promote cooperation between North and South in order to increase affordable access to sustainable energy across the African continent.

The event also launched the Renewable Energy Strategy of the AEEP that includes very ambitious targets by 2020: 10GW hydropower energy, 5GW wind energy, 500MW of solar and tripling all other renewables. It was indeed an exciting event to participate in, especially at the gracious invitation of the minister, but unfortunately the targets were not paired with announcements of new funding in order to attain these ambitious targets. Fingers were pointed at the limited funding offered by the EU-ACP Energy Facility, the EU-Africa Infrastructure Fund that is for large-scale projects like major hydro installations and for electricity grids that are a waste of money in most African contexts. PANGEA believes that the key to increasing affordable energy access across the continent is to invest in mini-grid energy generation instead. Sadly, this was not a topic well understood at the event as it was attended primarily by hand-shaking politicians rather than technical experts.

1st Regional Development Briefing: "Land access, land acquisitions & rural development", 26-27 September 2010 - Yaounde, Cameroun  

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) invited PANGEA's Secretary General to speak at a regional workshop they held in Yaounde, Cameroon- not about biofuels-but about landgrabbing.

As often as possible, PANGEA strives to reach outside of the traditional biofuels circles in order to reach new audiences. There is a constant stream of misinformation about issues such as food insecurity and landgrabbing that is often misconstrued by the media, and even worse, to communities who could be benefiting from bioenergy and to investors who could be developing those projects.

The majority of the event focused on the issues of landgrabbing-why it exists, what policy mechanisms enable landgrabbing and how those can be changed, how to better engage with communities so they can participate rather than be victimized, how to ensure development results from large-scale investments, how to balance industry with cultural needs, etc. The issue is extremely complex and crosses every sector, yet the finger is often pointed at biofuels investments as a major contributor to landgrabbing despite the fact that very few biofuel projects exist.

PANGEA is currently preparing a report on landgrabbing using much of the data and experiences from this event, but also our own perspective. A sneak peak? That land use planning and allocation is everyone's responsibility: government, communities and investors alike.

To see the presentations from the event, see http://www.acpbriefings.net/briefings/n%C2%B01-land/   

Africa Agriculture Outlook, 11-14 October - Sandton, South Africa

PANGEA held its final Africa-based workshop on Brazil and India's involvement in African bioenergy, after two successful events in Nairobi and Maputo earlier in the year. This time, the workshop was pitted not with a biofuels conference but with a general agricultural audience in an attempt to reach new ears.

There were two main themes to come out of the event: Brazil's government is exceptionally involved in trying to make biofuels a reality in Africa, helping countries to develop national policies and supporting the development of national feasibility studies. They've even dedicated an agricultural attaché to the embassy in Pretoria-one of only eight such attachés in the world-partly to help move this programme along.

The other main theme was: Why are there no major projects yet online? Attendees at the workshop as well as the main conference seemed confused, because there is so much potential for bioenergy in Africa yet the investments haven't followed this opportunity. It seems the role for PANGEA is changing. Whereas we used to have to introduce bioenergy as a concept, which seemed foreign in many circles, now we must turn our sights towards promoting investment. And that's exactly what we're about to do, in partnership with the African Union's NEPAD. But more on that soon...

Global Consultation on Cassava as an Energy Crop, 18-19 October - Accra, Ghana

To round off a very busy traveling schedule this past autumn, the UN's International Fund for Agricultural Development invited PANGEA's Secretary General to its international consultation on cassava as a potential feedstock for biofuel production. Aware of its uses as a primary starch in many African, Asian and South American countries, PANGEA was delighted to learn about how well suited the crop is to small-scale and large-scale ethanol projects alike.

The event welcomed dozens of researchers from around the world who are working to improve varieties and yields while reducing susceptibility to pests in an effort to further encourage information exchange between institutions. Several technology providers-including PANGEA's premium member Novozymes as one of the world leaders-are working with cassava to ensure easy transition from starch to sugar so that ethanol can be distilled, while others are working with the cassava tops to use as biomass for heat and electricity production. Hidden among the audience was even an investor or two, as project developers look for new crop ideas to complement their current biofuel feedstock of choice. Among a few were jatropha producers, who need an easy and inexpensive crop to keep them in business until their jatropha miracle occurs while others produce potable ethanol from cassava as part of their larger agricultural operations.

As soon as IFAD releases the consultation report from the event, it will be made available on PANGEA's members only website.

European Development Days, 6-7 December - Brussels, Belgium

The European Development Days, organized by the European Commission, is a forum to discuss current policy issues related to development and aid. The overarching issue this year was that aid funding is not enough to achieve sustainable development. Aid needs to be more effective and boost African economies, perhaps through public-private partnerships or other innovative initiatives. African speakers like Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank and Oldemiro Marques Baloi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Mozambique, clarified that it is important to give a country the possibility to learn from its own mistakes, low income countries must find their own path to development.
 

Some examples of Private-Public Partnership Instruments already exist such as the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF) and The Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF). Both of which PANGEA already follows closely and has good contacts. www.icfafrica.org/

www.aecfafrica.org

PANGEA participated in the workshop on the Global Alliance for Clean Cook-Stoves. According to Mrs. Leslie Cordes, UN Foundation and Global Alliance for Clean Cook-Stoves, the core idea of the partnership is that access to clean cooking energy is of equal importance as access to electricity. In-door smoke from solid fuels is still a major cause of disease. Of course there is no "one size fits all technical solution", but local solutions must be built according to local conditions. Mr. Kris Balderston from USAID, concluded saying that the US State Department created an inter-agency task force to address the issue of access to clean and safe cooking energy and US$ 300 million has been committed. The objective is to create the widest possible partnership, involving NGOs, private sector, governments. One of PANGEA's members, Project Gaia Inc. is actively involved in this alliance as well as others. www.projectgaia.com

Finally PANGEA took part in the conference, The Energy Evolution: Mobilizing Energy for sustainable development. Experiences learned in Africa, Asia, Latin America. Mr. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, President of the Republic of Tanzania, clarified that Africa has abundant energy resources. There is a great need for joint investments and more cooperation on the regional scale to fully explore those resources. In compliment to the statement, Mrs. Hela Cheikhrouhou, Director of Energy, Environment and Climate Change Department, African Development Bank (AfDB) mentioned the creation of an African Green Fund in order to work with local banks and provide them with equity solutions. More information on the fund will be released in the coming months.
 

For for information on other events, visit: www.eudevdays.eu