Guatemala and the OAS Launch Ethanol Project

Guatemala’s new pilot plan for the blend and use of ethanol in gasoline represents an important step toward building a more sustainable, energy secure country. The Plan, launched on February 25, 2015 by the Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) and the OAS-SEDI through its Department of Sustainable Development, seeks to promote the use of ethanol for vehicles, which if successful, has the potential of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and generating savings of at least $100 million in fossil fuel imports in the country.

Since signing an agreement in August 2014, the OAS Department of Sustainable Development has provided technical assistance to the Ministry for the implementation of its plan and is supporting the establishment of a new Technical Unit on Biofuels. Ancheta Ivanova, Deputy Minister of Sustainable Development clarified that the plan will identify benefits, weaknesses, impacts, and technical aspects of the blend, which will serve as the basis for the launch of a national project.

Deputy Minister Ancheta also noted that the sample of vehicles selected reflect "the reality of the vehicle fleet in the country, evaluating models from 1985-2014". The vehicles are mostly from the public sector, with a smaller sample from other sectors, including vehicles from private companies Claro and DHL and civil society organizations Fundación Solar and the Association for Renewable Fuels (ACR).The four-month test is for blends of 5% and 10% ethanol in gasoline. These levels respond to the parameters the country’s Ethanol Fuel Act  wwhich requires a minimum blend of 5%.

The ethanol, a derivative from sugarcane, will be produced by the country’s Association of Producers of Alcohol of Guatemala (APAG) comprised of five local distilleries. This is a critical aspect for taking the project to scale in the near future, as the Association’s annual production of 65 million gallons of ethanol is sufficient to meet the demand for blended fuel generated by the country’s entire vehicular fleet  and which is estimated at 36 million gallons per year.

The initiative is carried out as part of the activities of the OAS-SEDI in support of the USA-Brazil cooperation agreement which promotes biofuels in the region in order to develop clean, renewable and sustainable energy systems through access to energy efficient technologies and practices.

The ethanol project in Guatemala is also supported by the "Universidad del Valle de Guatemala (UVG)" which will measure emissions into the atmosphere and private sector companies that will be responsible for supporting aspects related to mechanics, logistics and laboratory work. In turn, the Ministry will provide physical space and a team of scientists to monitor the vehicles participating in the pilot.