Energy and Climate Change Mitigation

Resources





Links of Interest


Letter of Understanding: The OAS signs letter of understanding with the Government of Guatemala - August 7, 2014

The Organization of American States (OAS) and the Government of the Republic of Guatemala, through the Ministry of Energy and Mines, signed a Letter of Understanding whose main objective is to establish the commitment of the two organizations for the implementation of a Pilot Project of Mix and Use of Ethanol and Support for the Construction of the Biofuels Technical Unit.

The workshop is an activity supported under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Government of the United States of America to advance cooperation on biofuels.

By signing this document the parties mutually agreed to cooperate in the implementation of the Pilot Plan activities aimed at assessing the environmental and mechanical performance of a sample of 20 vehicles when mixing different percentages of fuel ethanol used in gasoline in the city of Guatemala.

During the celebration, Mrs. Viceminister, Ivanova Anchieta, said that with the Pilot Project: “The government will get local information that will identify the benefits, weaknesses, impact and technical aspects of the mix that would serve as a basis to launch a National Project”. The engineer Erick Archila, the highest authority in the portfolio of Mines and Energy, said: “The country has an installed capacity to produce 65 million gallons of ethanol per year and if it’s scientifically feasible to mix all gasoline of the country with 10% of ethanol, only 36 million gallons per year would be needed”. This suggests a large impact on the energy bill of the country.

Guatemala has a fuel ethanol production of about 250 million liters per year, which is almost entirely exported (over 90%), rather than being used locally as an oxygenate in the commercial gasoline of the country. In this regard, the engineer Kevin De Cuba, Representative of the Department of Sustainable Development of the OAS in Washington DC, said: “Although there is global experience in the use of ethanol in gasoline, it is necessary a national scientific study to ensure the best local conditions for its possible application”. That is why it is necessary to conduct a demonstration exercise that provides information to the population, in both technical and logistical aspects of the use of ethanol as an oxygenate in gasoline.

The agreement was assigned to the Energy and Climate Change Mitigation Section of the Department of Sustainable Development of the OAS with the role of financial management, technology identification and recruitment of consultants for the Pilot Project. Meanwhile, the MEM will provide the physical space and a team of scientists who will provide monitoring of the motors participating in the pilot project.

With this activity, the OAS rectifies the commitment to "promote efforts to develop more clean, affordable, renewable and sustainable energy systems to promote access to energy and energy efficient technologies and practices in homes and in the public and private sectors".

This activity is being developed under the framework of the Cooperation Agreement between the United States and Brazil to support the widespread of the implementation of the MOU for the development of biofuels.