Ecuador has identified 400,000 hectares suitable for crops from which it plans to produce biofuels, President Rafael Correa said during his last Saturday address.
"We have already mapped the agricultural areas and there are 400,000 hectares where there is nothing" and where sugar cane or African palm can be planted, the president said in his weekly work report.
Correa explained that these areas, located in provinces such as the coastal province of Santa Elena, are suitable because, as they are vacant, they would not generate displacement of forests, endemic species or traditional crops.
The president said that a pilot program is being developed "successfully" in the port of Guayaquil, within the framework of a policy that also provides incentives for sugar mills that produce biofuels.
"We are going to make a law, to give incentives, I don't know if tax incentives, we are studying it, but also to improve prices a little for ethanol so that it is profitable for the mills, who prefer to make sugar from cane," because it leaves them with more profits, he said.
Correa said his biofuels program also includes resources for research into new technologies, and is complemented by a plan to improve the quality of gasoline that will cost about $200 million a year.
"We need to start a national debate to see where we can get" this money, said the president, whose country spends some $2 billion a year on fuel subsidies.
Correa said that a pilot program is being developed "successfully" in the port of Guayaquil, within the framework of a policy that also provides incentives for sugar mills that produce biofuels.
Critics say the use of these lands is what has motivated the repression of communities that has been seen in recent weeks and that with these government actions, more is to be expected.
Meanwhile, President Correa said: "The challenge is to ensure that economic agents, seeking their own profit, achieve the greatest social welfare." "Full tanks, empty stomachs," argued Correa, suggesting another voice against this type of megaproject.
SOURCE: AFP