IDB’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI) backs US-Brazil efforts to promote biofuels in Central America and the Caribbean

The Inter-American Development Bank has announced the approval of a US$750,000 donation from SECCI funds for developing feasibility studies of biofuels production initially in Haiti, El Salvador, and the Dominican Republic.

SECCI will support countries in the region in order to  develop its biofuel industry.        

The studies will be carried out  by Brazil’s Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV) within the framework laid out by the US-Brazil Initiative for Biofuels in Central America and the Caribbean.  FGV has established a successful methodology that has been applied in similar studies in Brazil.

“The application of this uniform methodology will allow the establishment of the limitations advantages of each of the countries and if it were possible to make full use of these conditions to launch the repositioning of the region as a competitive force in the international market,” said Laura Natalia Rojas, one of the leaders of the IADB team.

“For the United States and Brazil, the largest producers and consumers of ethanol in the world, it’s indispensable to develop a competitive and sustainable global market,” said Arnaldo Vieira de Carvalho, the other team leader. “Central America and the Caribbean have very good potential in this new market due to their geographic location and the benefits given to them by international treaties such as the Dominican Republic and Central American Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA).”

The program will be conducted in coordination with Brazil’s Export and Investment Promotion Agency (APEX) and the corresponding authorities in each country. The activities will be carried out by a team of technical, financial, and commercial experts, provided by the Getulio Vargas Foundation. This team will apply the same methodology to all beneficiary countries in the program.

SECCI Fund

The SECCI Fund was launched in November 2006 with an initial IDB contribution of $20 million and has subsequently received a $2.8 million donation from the United Kingdom.

The fund backs major investments in the development of biofuels, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and a wide range of sustainable energy options. In certain cases, the fund will also finance programs and policies aimed at fighting climate change in the region, according to Juan Pablo Bonilla, SECCI coordinator.

Institutions that can contribute to the fund include government ministries, government agencies tasked with dealing with the issue of climate change, planning entities, public and private companies, sub-national governments, private investors, non-governmental organizations, and academic institutions.