IDB approves $350,000 grant to Honduras for energy efficiency and biofuel programs
The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $350,000 grant from its Fund for Special Operations to support energy efficiency and biofuel programs in Honduras, as part of the Bank’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change (SECCI) Initiative.
The grant will support preparation of investment plans and loans for energy efficiency measures and the development of technical studies, including those related to the implementation of a national program to produce and promote biofuels in Honduras.
The funding will help the Honduran government continue various initiatives, such as IDB-supported preliminary studies on the fiscal implications of national biofuel plans. The project includes pilot programs to improve socioeconomic and environmental conditions in Honduras and boost the competitiveness of the country’s energy-consuming productive sectors, as well as the agroindustry in an effort to promote rural development.
The State Secretariat of the Presidency of Honduras, in coordination with the Natural Resources and Environment Secretariat, will carry out the program.
The IDB in Mesoamerica
This grant is part of the IDB’s support to help the Mesoamerican region cope with the energy crisis caused by high oil prices.
Other countries in the region, such as Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Haiti, are working with the IDB to prepare biofuel development and other sustainable energy programs. These include a series of technical, economic, fiscal, agricultural, social and environmental studies that will help devise a solid framework for well-informed decision-making to strengthen regional production of biofuels.
The IDB has been a key promoter of sustainable energy in the Mesoamerican region. At the first Energy Fair organized by Guatemala’s Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) from November 12-15, 2007, the IDB worked with the MEM to organize the Central American Ministers Forum, analyzing challenges faced by the energy sector and reviewing IDB programs and facilities for financing.
The IDB also organized the Fourth Meeting of the Mesoamerican Biofuels Group and the Vinasse Seminar (vinasse is an ethanol by product) in close association with the MEM, the General Secretariat of the Central American Integration System (SG/SICA) and the Subregional Headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Mexico. These events brought together private-sector groups involved in producing ethanol and government institutions.
The meetings included presentations of final reports on biofuels at the regional level, financed by the IDB through its Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI), with funding from the IDB/Germany Strategic Partnership Agreement on Sustainable Energy.
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