May 2011
- The Government of Italy, the UN Foundation, and the Energy and Security Group remain committed to the application of BEET to support biofuels policy development in developing countries.
- BEET was applied to work conducted under the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which includes provisions to support establishment of sustainable bioenergy programs and projects in several countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, thereby helping to diversify the energy production mix and improve economic sustainability and competitiveness.
- BEET was applied in El Salvador and the Dominican Republic to inform policy makers about the technical and policy related issues of an ethanol blending program. In each country BEET was used to assist the Government in the development of a 10-year plan for bioethanol development. Results showed that there were no significant barriers to the implementation of an E10 policy in either country. Local production of ethanol from sugarcane/molasses at a 10 percent blendstock, will have benefits to the local economies in terms of reduced imports, increased jobs, improved balance of trade, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Existing lands could be used to meet the E-10 requirement and there would be no negative impacts on food supplies. A BEET training course was provided to Government officials, private sector, and other key stakeholders; also, the BEET tool and training manual was provided in Spanish.
- BEET was applied to a biofuels market assessment conducted for French speaking West African countries. In particular, BEET was used to evaluate ethanol potential in four West African countries; Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo. For these countries, BEET showed the available arable land requirement by crop type necessary to satisfy demand for ethanol under a E-10, E-25, or E-85 blending policy. Ethanol demand was based upon gasoline consumption in the transport sector for the four countries. For all three policy scenarios it was shown that ethanol can be produced using currently available arable land and would not displace food produced from permanent crop land.
- BEET was presented at an international consultation organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on the potential for cassava as a bioenergy crop for developing countries.
- BEET was presented to participants of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Biofuels Task Force meeting. Discussions involved exploring collaboration and cooperation in assessing alternative biofuels policies and futures for APEC member economies.
June 2009
- Developed the alpha, beta, and gamma versions of BEET.
- BEET provided quantitative, defensible, and updateable analysis on biofuels to help separate myths from facts
- Addressed impacts on national and energy security, economics, environment, and agriculture
- Enabled full cost and benefit analysis of biofuels with quantitative results of impacts on: poverty reduction, job creation, oil import reduction, balance of trade impacts, modern energy access, GHG emission reductions, and food impacts. Addresses impacts from policies over time (dynamic, not static), and addresses sustainability concerns.
- Applying BEET to biofuels energy policies in El Salvador and Dominican Republic; to be expanded to other Central American and African countries.