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Duarte, German pres sign biofuels agreement(BNamericas.com Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Paraguay's President Nicanor Duarte Frutos and his German counterpart Horst Khler have signed a strategic alliance agreement for the development of biofuels in Paraguay, particularly with German investment, Paraguay's government said in a statement. The agreement calls for the supply of technical and financial resources to support the growth of Paraguay's biofuels sector in order to lower domestic fuel costs and produce biofuels for export to the European market. Paraguay aims to produce 300Ml of biodiesel in 2011, the country's minister of industry and commerce Jos Mara Ibez said in the statement. In the next few years, Paraguay is considering installing a plant to process 100,000l of biodiesel. There are also plans to launch spurge and coconut development with the agriculture ministry and financial institution Crdito Agrcola de Habilitacin (CAH) for the production of biodiesel. There are close to 10,000ha of spurge in Paraguay and the country plans to develop a plan to harvest coconuts within five years. With regards to ethanol production, Paraguay currently has 85,000ha of sugarcane, of which 20% is used to produce ethanol. Sugarcane production could be expanded to 100,000ha, with 40% of the crop for ethanol output. Copyright 2006 BNamericas.com |