Energy for Sustainable Development: the case of Brazil and biofuels production

09/04/2010 - 13:45

9 April 2010
13.45 - 15.00 hrs

Energy Programme Asia Lecture by Marion B. Lima, MA,  PHD Candidate, Institute for Environmental Studies - Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, Free University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Chair & discussant: Dr. Mehdi Amineh

Venue: GSSS, Prins Hendrikkade 189-B, Room C, Amsterdam

Energy is not only an input to production, but also an instrument for sustainable development. Developing countries, in particular, have today the challenge of adopting “cleaner” energies while reducing poverty and promoting socio-economic development. Brazil has provided one of the most regarded examples of cleaner energies, through biofuels production. The country already consumes more ethanol than gasoline; its energy matrix is for almost 50% made of renewables; and social-inclusion policies using biofuel production have been ongoing for half a decade. What has prompted such developments? Behind the scenes, what are the actual costs of that biofuel agenda? And how effective have the policies to promote poverty reduction and socio-economic development through biofuels been?     

This lecture is organised within the Energy Programme Asia (EPA) Lecture Series 2010: Domestic and Geopolitical Challenges to Energy Security for China and the European Union

Information
Dr Mehdi P. Amineh
EPA Programme Director
International Institute for Asian Studies
T +31 20 525 4567
m.p.amineh@uva.nl