Environment: Palm farms make profit of the climatic change.

Environment: Palm farms make profit of the climatic change.

SOURCE: DINERO.COM
06/26/2009
 

The Project umbrella MDL is the first approved by United Nations for one specific sector, the biggest in the business of the palm world Wide and that of biggest size in capturing and mitigation of emission of methane of waste water.

Under Fedepalma's umbrella, the Colombian palm sector receives the guarantee of United Nations to develop the biggest project of apprehension and mitigation of methane of the world.

United Nations finishes of approving to the Colombian palm sector the most ambitious project of the country in the frame of the Mechanism of Clean Development (MDL). The umbrella project MDL is the first approved by the international organization for a specific sector - strategy that they are stimulating in the whole world-; the biggest in the business of the palm worldwide and that of major size in apprehension and mitigation of emission of methane of waste water.

Fedepalma has been the great maker of this achievement. Of the hand of the center Andean for the Economy of the Environment (Caema), the Federation is working for five years at the study of pre-feasibility and the process of approval of United Nations. The key to achieve it was the perseverance, according to Jens Mesa, president of Fedepalma, who adds that “to achieve a project need a brave person and, to finish it, a patient person".

Colombia already has 15 initiatives MDL approved by United Nations, an agreement signed in Kyoto's Protocol that allows to the governments of the developed countries, and to his companies, to sign agreements to comply with goals of reduction of Greenhouse gases (GEI) inverting in projects of reduction of emission in developing countries, as an alternative to acquire Certified by reduced Emission (CER).

But the magnitude of the Project umbrella MDL overcomes all the expectations. While other 14 initiatives in the country there generate, as a whole, 1,3 million annual CER, that of the palmers has a potential of placing 757.067 in the same period and a duration of 21 years. “With this potential, in a conservative scene, additional income would generate for the sector of about US$7,5 annual millions ", indicates Claudia Mora, vice minister of Environment.

Additional, there is opened the possibility of energetic cogeneration, since the process of transformation of the gas methane in biogas would produce between six and seven times more energy of the employee for the sector palmer, which can be sold to the market, or in not interconnected zones.

This project has an additional value for the sector in Colombia: it allows him to differ from the polemic Asian, responsible producers of more than 80% of the world production of oil of palm. The patience and the role of the union were key in order that the project was making real. “It was a tenacious process, but we get it forward in spite of the fact that it had those who never believed that they went to approve it ", comments Michael Angel Mazorra, the environmental director of Fedepalma, for whom this effort will meet reflected when United Nations insist, in the Conference of Climate of Copenhagen in next November, in their intention of promoting sectorial projects that take advantage better of the scale’s economies.

In this regard, Thomas Black, the executive director of Caema, assert that the project is the sectorial first one worldwide and is given "in a moment in that looks For United Nations that complete sectors reduce emission and Fedepalma already was positioned as the first one in doing it. This offers to their place of local and international leadership and outlines it as world leader in the mitigation of the climatic change ".

The crossed route.

The idea of developing the project arose in the moment in which the parts of United Nations agree a system of reduction of emission in Marrakech's meeting, in 2001, when took forces the MDL. When there decided the GEI that accentuate the climatic change, there went out the methane, a by-product that generates in the lagoons mounted for the systems of treatment of waste water in the companies palms.
The lagoons, constructed initially to avoid the problems of pollution of water fountains, were turning out to be big generating of methane. Nevertheless, remembers Mazorra, " to the company Palmeiras they has an idea of put a tarp in the lagoon and, across a process of cleaned of the methane, to use it to generate electric power, this it was the point of reference to initiate the project ".

With an investment that one estimates in 1.000 $ million, it was important to define the feasibility of the project it to answer in other plants. With the model of Palmeiras in mind, Fedepalma looked for Caema's advising to evaluate the possibility of taking it to 50 plants of benefit that were working in this moment in the country. The environmental director of Fedepalma comments that " the viability of developing a project of this importance, eventually, was bold. We were perfecting the idea and the response of the international experts was that it was perfectly viable and, in addition, they challenged us and said to us that if we were managing to develop a project of this nature, it would be something spectacular inside the frame of Kyoto's Protocol ".

From this moment one gave beginning to become aware of the palmers, for whom in 2001 the idea was turning out to be strange. “They were thinking that a madman who was developing the environmental management was going to speak to them about an absolutely esoteric thing ", holds Mazorra. But in 2002 the idea already had acquired the support of Fedepalma's board of directors and the union decided to finance the study of prefeasibility, contracted to Caema. “There were moments in which we feel uneasiness because the period is very long. In addition, there were changes in the requirements and we had to do adjustments to the project in repeated occasions ", reminds Jens Mesa.

The socialization of the information was done in the totality of the companies of the sector, 39 decided to embark in the project and after developing an instrument of links of the representation of the companies to Fedepalma, 32 of them signed the contract. Of it already five years ago, time during which Fedepalma's labor did that none of them was leaving the initiative and they were coming to the audit of validation of the project, by charge of the Norwegian company DNB. "Towards ends of 2006, the experts of DNB came to do the visit and expressed to the plants that there was no doubt on the addition, the most important requirement for this type of projects ", says Mazorra.

Of there in forward they began the steps with United Nations, which took near three years - what is late in average the organization in approving projects MDL-, up to his final approval last May 25. Now the situation changes again. " We are in a stage that breaks the inertia of comfort that we were bringing, Fedepalma was taking the reins and now they goes on to private hands since we go on from the approval to CER's sale ", indicates Luis Eduardo Betancourt, general manager of Unipalma. For his part, Fabio Gonzalez, manager of Palms of the Cesar, makes clear that it has been fulfilled by the first very important stage because it stops being a project to turning into a reality. “Now the most important thing comes: to execute it ", he says.

Much for coming.

The project will be a springboard for the palmer sector of the country. During the first 15 days of published the news in the official site of United Nations, there had been received more than 20 calls of different parts of the world, interested in knowing the experience. "This one is a very good project, which is going to give very much sheen to the palmer sector for their size, for being a umbrella, for the technological criteria applied, for your formulation and for your possibility of expansion of generation of energy and apprehension of resources", affirms Fabio Arjona, the executive director of International Conservation in Colombia.

Nevertheless, still lacking to complete the process of assimilation on the part of the private ones. It hopes that this year a third part of the sheltered companies they begin the adequacies for the capture and mitigation of methane, the first phase of the project. For 2011 it estimates that all companies have with carps your lagoons and one gives beginning the generation of energy. And from 2012 one plans to begin the stage of cogeneration of energy of the sector.

“This project is a clear sample of to invest in the environment yes pays. The sector regulated always has seen the environment as an obstacle to the production, but Fedepalma's project is demonstrating that, in spite of the costs, the advantages and benefits will meet paid of beneficial form, generating of step a positive environmental impact ", affirm the vice minister of Environment.

Later, it will be necessary to think about the best way of investing the resources of CER's sale. The Department of Environment will insist that should be done in environmental topics as reforestation or mechanisms of clean production; it is to say, in projects that might result in more MDL. This way a virtuous circle would be closed because it would diminish the vulnerability of the agricultural sector to the climatic change, fundamentally for his dependence of water fountains.