Agricultural and bioenergy industry associations from the Americas create Pan-American Liquid Biofuels Coalition

The main business and industrial associations in the Americas dedicated to the production and processing of sugar, alcohol, corn, sorghum, soybeans, vegetable oil and grains, among other products in the agricultural sector, formed the Pan-American Liquid Biofuels Coalition (CPBIO), with the aim of coordinating the development, promotion and sustainable consumption of these clean energies in the hemisphere.

The group was created at the Pan-American Liquid Biofuels Summit, organized in São José by the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), which will act as the coalition's Technical Secretariat. 

The 25 organizations that gave rise to CPBIO, coming from multiple countries in the Americas, signed a declaration proposing the search for more robust institutionality and coordination to promote biofuels. 

“In today's international scenario, articulating experiences and knowledge is fundamental to achieving sustainable objectives that impact the environment in the future. Therefore, IICA assumes the Technical Secretariat of the Coalition with great responsibility. Its role will be to catalyze the actions of the working group and support the implementation of the proposed roadmap”, stated Manuel Otero, General Director of IICA. 

“America is a region where bioenergy and biofuels are produced sustainably in large quantities. However, these initiatives are not formalized or institutionalized, which prevents information from being disseminated in a fluid and assertive manner. This initiative is disruptive, and will allow the sector to face the challenges of the future to supply the world with low-carbon energy”, said Evandro Gussi, President of the Sugarcane and Bioenergy Industry Union (UNICA) of Brazil, one of the founding organizations of CPBIO. 

Gussi added that IICA's support will be fundamental for the development of the coalition and its work objectives. “The sector has the guarantee that the proposals and agreements defined will rely on all the experience that, for several decades, IICA has provided to the Americas”.  

Édgar Herrera, Executive Director of the Sugarcane Industrial Agricultural League (LAICA), from Costa Rica, another of the founders, expressed: “Talking about the benefits of biofuels and renewable energy on the environment is a matter of state and energy security. , as well as talking about food security. Without a doubt, the missing link was for an institution like IICA to take the initiative from a continental perspective”. 

Among its main statements, CPBIO's declaration of origin proposes that the climate crisis is increasingly worrying, but there is still time to avoid major catastrophes, with biofuels, especially liquid fuels, being a fundamental factor in the decarbonization of transport.  

In the coalition's opinion, biofuels improve air quality and the health of the population and contribute to the development of agriculture and the economy, as their production diversifies the production supply, adds value, protects soils through crop rotation, creates sustainable jobs and ensures a stable flow of demand over time for farmers. 

Furthermore, the production of biofuels makes it possible to reduce the vulnerability associated with a single energy source. 

“Public policies play a fundamental role in the development of clean energy in general and biofuels in particular. In this sense, the countries of the Americas have a privileged position, as they have biomass that can be industrialized in a sustainable way to produce biological fuels, in order to decarbonize the economy and take care of the health of people, animals and plants”, considered the international biofuels expert from IICA, Agustín Torroba. 

The organizations in the hemisphere that are part of the Pan-American Liquid Fuels Coalition (CPBIO) are:

• El Salvador Sugar Association

• Guatemala Renewable Fuels Association (ACR)

• Argentine Soy Chain Association (ACSOJA)

• Sugarmakers of the Central American Isthmus (AICA)

• Alcohols from Uruguay (ALUR)

• Association of Alcohol Producers of Guatemala (APAG)

• Local Alcohol Production Arrangement (APLA), Brazil

• Association of Biofuel Producers of Brazil (APROBIO)

• Panama Sugar and Alcohol Association (AZUCALPA)

• Paraguayan Chamber of Biofuels and Renewable Energy (BIOCAP)

• Argentine Sugar Center (CAA)

• Paraguayan Sugar and Alcohol Center (CAAP)

• Corn Bioethanol Chamber (BIOMAIZ), Argentina

• Argentine Chamber of Biofuels (CARBIO)

• Chamber of the Oil Industry of the Argentine Republic-Center of Cereal Exporters (CIARA-CEC)

• National Chamber of Sugar and Alcohol Industries, Mexico

• National Committee of Nicaraguan Sugar Producers (CNPA)

• National Biofuels Federation of Colombia (FEDECOMBUSTIBLES)

• The Sugarcane Industrial Agricultural League (LAICA), Costa Rica

• Argentine Corn and Sorghum Association (MAIZAR)

• Peruvian Association of Agroindustrial Sugar and Sugar Products (PERUCAÑA)

• Union of Latin American Sugarmakers (UNALA)

• National Corn Ethanol Union (UNEM)

• Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA)

• United States Grains Council