Ecobreves – HONDURAS: More African Palm Grown for Biodiesel

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TEGUCIGALPA, Apr 8 2006 (IPS) - The Honduran government will promote the cultivation of 200,00 hectares of African palm over the next five years to produce the alternative fuel known as biodiesel. Government adviser Moisés Starkman told Tierramérica that this measure “will lower the costs and the pressure that we face due to the hike in petroleum prices.”

The palm plant, which as of next year will be cultivated in the country's northern and Caribbean region, “will be the raw material for producing some 200 million gallons of biodiesel,” said the presidential adviser.

Currently the country generates some 9,000 gallons of biodiesel, but with the free trade agreement with the United States, known as CAFTA and in effect since Apr. 1, the government will promote this energy sector, he added.