OrIt
was organized jointly with F.O. Licht and was
attended by high-ranking representatives from
European institutions and national and regional
governments, as well as numerous international
experts.
The conference addressed key issues relating to
the biofuels industry, such as the current role
of agriculture, the state of the art of biofuel
technology and the development of new technologies,
the European regulatory and tax scene, environmental
issues related to biofuels, funding for investment
required for further development and the official
positions of governments around the world.
The set of directives issued by the European
Commission on 7 November 2001 concerning the
use of biofuels in transport prepared the ground
for the development of the industry in Europe.
These directives are expected to lead to a considerable
increase in demand, which will create significant
business opportunities for all sectors of this
fledgling industry, and one of the items on
the agenda of the World Biofuels 2002 conference
was a detailed analysis of the European market.
The event was organized as part of the activities
carried out by the Forum for thought on the
environment and sustainable development, recently
set up by the Foundation as an effective vehicle
for reflection and discussion at the highest
level to promote knowledge and awareness and
create public opinion on this important issue.
With the triple bottom line of the economic,
social and environmental development that defines
sustainable development as its underlying premise,
the Forum, supported by the Foundation, will
focus its attention primarily on those areas
that are related to Abengoa's business activity,
where it can make a relevant contribution to
different aspects of international, industrial,
technological and any other kind of relations.
The biofuel sector has been selected as the
first arena for action, although other areas,
in which analysis and knowledge are equally
relevant and important for a society committed
to sustainable development, will also be addressed
in coming years.
World Biofuels 2002 was inaugurated by Manuel
Chaves, the President of the Regional Government
of Andalusia, and chaired by Javier Benjumea
Llorente, President of the Focus-Abengoa Foundation,
Günther Hanreich, Director for New Energies
and Demand Management, Directorate-General for
Energy and Transport, European Commission, and
Christoph Berg, an F.O. Licht analyst.
The participants and speakers at the conference
included Pilar Ayuso González, Manuel
Álvarez Giménez, Donato Raponi,
Gary Smith, Luiz Carlos Corrêa Carvalho,
Leslie Pacher and Joaquín Alarcón
de la Lastra.
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