$161 Million towards education in Mozambique

The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank has approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $71 million to support the Mozambican government's Education Strategic Support Programme (ESSP). 

The programme will run from 2011 to 2015 and will be in addition to a previous commitment through the World Band administered Education For All – Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund (EFA-FTI CF) program, that totalled R90 million.
The money will increase access to education, promote HIV/AIDS prevention programmes, improve the quality of education and support curriculum reform. Olivier Godron, World Bank representative said ""I am pleased that in times of austerity and budget cuts, we are keeping our commitments, thus helping the country fill financing gaps, keep its sectorial priorities afloat, and meet its critical development challenges".
The funds will be managed by the Education Ministry and received praise from the World Bank. The project team leader Sophie Naudeau said "it is gratifying to see that Mozambique is making steady progress toward the achievement of universal primary education by 2015 (Millennium Development Goal number 2). Net enrolment in primary education more than doubled from 45 to 95 per cent between 1998 and 2010, and the completion rate (grade 7) increased from 34 per cent in 2004 to 50.8 per cent in 2010. A major achievement is the increase in the net enrolment rate at 6 - 7 years of age from 19 per cent in 1998 to 70 per cent in 2010".
The World Bank funds have come at a crucial time as the education sector during 2010 faced a 36% cut in bilateral funding and an 8% cut in the education sector donor funding pool.

Japan from nuclear to renewable

The on-going Fukushima nuclear crisis in Japan has prompted a turnaround of events as Japan abandons plans to double its nuclear power capacity and move over to renewable energy.

Japan with the world's 3rd largest economy has exchanged plans to construct 14 new nuclear plants with an energy policy to develop wind, solar and biomass energy sources.
The Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan has made the incredible announcement two months after Japan was brought close to a nuclear catastrophe by dual impacts of a n earthquake and tsunami on the Fukushima/Daiichi nuclear plant.
The crisis however is far from over and the latest setback for the authorities came as the fuel rods at Fukushima Reactor 1 had been fully exposed and the melted fuel that has now accumulated at the bottom of the reactor vessel is in danger of leaking through, which could cause the release of radiation. A lesson learned that nuclear plants are vulnerable to unforeseen natural disasters, even in a country as technologically advanced as Japan.
The Japan crises also motivated the German government to change their nuclear plans, by reversing an earlier decision to extend the lifetime of existing reactors. The government ordered nearly half of its existing nuclear reactors to immediately stop operations and end the use of nuclear energy in exchange for renewable energy as quickly as possible.
Both countries has made strong statements against nuclear plants and other countries are sure to be influenced by this decision. Both countries are well positioned to lead the development of cutting edge technologies for harvesting renewable energy potential and to combine them into a robust and reliable energy system for a new era. Japan currently gets 30% of its electricity from nuclear and Germany with the 4th largest economy, get 25%.
The growing evidence that renewable energy will power most of the world by 2050 will have other countries not lag far behind Japan and Germany.

Moringa leading the Biofuels Industry

The biofuels industry has received aggregated attention in recent years and the quest for alternative energy has become the buzz word for environmental activists and world leaders alike.

The global demand for second-generation biofuel has however not been without controversy with the "food vs. fuel" debate causing the industry to seek a more lucrative option. The most recent source is the Moringa Oleifera tree, which has reignited the hope for sustainable biofuel.
The Moringa tree or better known in Africa as the "miracle tree" has surfaced as a source of both biofuel and food. The Moringa tree is considered to be a more sustainable biodiesel feedstock than any other existing feed stocks. Moringa has been heralded as a wonder plant because it has no direct competition with food crops. The Moringa tree is fast becoming the best source of organic products from alternative fuel (biofuel), organic food products (both for human and animal consumption), cosmetics ingredients and is best for malnutrition control.
Most parts of the tree are used and the greatest contribution of Moringa to health is its nutritional value. The rapidly growing and drought resistant tree can be used for fibre, medicine and water purification. Furthermore, Moringa is also identified as a potential solution to Vitamin A deficiency in poverty stricken countries such as Malawi and Rwanda.
With Moringa bridging the gap between food and fuel, it can do well to silence the mouths of critics who are known to debate the negative consequences of the biofuels industry. The tree is very much poised to become the next big thing in the Biofuel market and many finance and investment firms are picking Moringa as an opportunity to provide rewarding returns in the commodities market.

Biofuels role in the state of Iowa

The Iowa State Research Farm boasts two experimental plants, producing oil from biomass such as corn stover, switchgrass, miscanthus, wood chips and algae. Biocrude is produced by one plant through a form of incineration called pyrolysis, which heats biomass to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit in an oxygen-free environment and then decomposes the biomass to vaports and aerosols. Rapid cooling then turns the vapors into bio-oil and later fuel.

The second prototype is a gasification plant, a process by which heat of up to 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit breaks down the biomass to its most basic elements to produce a synthetic gas. A steam process turns the biomass into a synthetic gas. An interesting byproduct is the carbon waste, or "biochar" that drops out of the gasification process.
The $23 million project was introduced by a grand in 2007 from ConocoPhilips and assisted with funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Energy as well as Dupont (owner of Pioneer Hi-Bred) and Danisco.
The facility is one of a kind due to the variety of biomass products. The centre isn't limited to a single biomass, but can take all biomass products for conversion to fuels. With current oil prices nearing $100, prospects for alternative fuel has increased the goals to produce usable biofuel by 2022.
Director Robert Brown of the Iowa State University Bioeconomy Institute says that the public has been given a somewhat misleading picture of biofuels by the explosive growth of traditional ethanol. It grew from less than 1 billion gallons of annual production in the middle of the last decade to almost 14 billion gallons this year, or 10 % of U.S. annual gasoline consumption.

The importance of Biofuels

The political instability has contributed to the rising oil prices globally. Furthermore the majority of the world's oil fields will reach maximum petroleum extraction capacity in 2020. This impending crisis has increased the importance of finding an alternative energy solution. Biofuels, however is nothing new and tracks back to the early 19th century, where the first internal combustion engines were designed to run on alcohol. 

Since the 19th century the search has progressed to find more effective methods of alternative energy. From edible crops such as soya bean, sugar cane and oil palm to the cellulosic biomass of poplar trees and switchgrass, to toxic shrubs like Jatropha.
More recently the second-generation biofuels source Moringa oleifera has silenced most of the biofuels critics. The Moringa tree has no direct competition with food crops as it is an edible source of fuel and can be grown for both food and fuel.
During 2009, biofuels provided 1.8% of the world's transport fuel and investments keep pushing this lucrative industry. New policies are incentives are stimulating this fledgling industry as the search continue to find a much needed alternative to petroleum.

Renewable Energies to double by 2020

The global wind, solar, and biofuels industries are poised to double within the next 10 years. In this year's "Clean Energy Trends report" Clean Edge has included information comparing where the world was ten years ago to where it is now. The combined global market for solar and wind power is $131.6 billion today, but in the year 2000, it was only worth $6.5 billion. This enormous increase shows a positive shift towards clean energy sources which should be seen as a remarkable achievement.

This latest report has some interesting figures. The current global industry projections, for biofuels, put biofuels at twice its current value, $56.4 billion for 2010 and predict it will grow to $112.8 billion by 2020. It surveys the global wind industry at $60.5 billion for 2010, predicted to grow to $122.9 billion by 2020. The global solar industry is placed at $71.2 billion for 2010, predicted to grow to $113.6 billion by 2020.
The last decade, in the U.S., for example, there were less than 10,000 hybrid vehicles on the road in 2000 compared with more than 1.4 million hybrid vehicles in 2010. The percentage of U.S. Venture Capital spent on clean technology in 2000 was 1.2 %, compared to over 23% in 2010.
Clean Edge has been tracking data and releasing reports on these and related industries for a decade, and has made some really good predictions. They have only fallen short because some of the company's prior predictions have been more on the conservative side. It was predicted that major alternative energy industries would grow from $7 billion in 2000 to more than $82 billion by 2010. Therefore, the Market has actually exceeded expectations.
Clean Edge also predicted that wind power would grow to more than $49 billion by 2012, and that's already at $60.5 billion for 2010.
According to the report, there are 5 additional key trends that will significantly affect the alternative energy markets in the coming years. Incandescent phase-out lights the way for low-Cost LEDs, natural gas advances as a powerful partner for wind and solar energy, cleaner aviation fuels are poised for take-off, low-cost green building brings relief and sustainability around the world and innovation provides alternatives to rare earths.

Coal, an untapped commodity in Mozambique's Tete city

Mozambique's Tete City, with its untapped coal reserves estimated at 23 billion tonnes has a logistical nightmare in moving its precious commodity. Moving it out and getting the coal to port is a headache with trucks queuing to cross the bridge that spans the Zambezi river in this northern city of Mozambique.

 
Countries like China, Brazil, India and Australia have invested in Mozambique. China invested over five years and last August signed a five-year deal. Investments include Brazilian mining giant Vale, and Australia's Riversdale, with 24 percent owned by India's Tata that have invested 1.5 billion dollars. Coal wealth is not a new discovery but being one of the poorest countries in the world, Mozambique is recovering after nearly two decades of civil war and has opened its territory to nations and companies seeking mineral resources.
This city located in a remote corner of the country was taken by surprise and thousands of Mozambicans flocked there in the past five years. Due to the rapid and sudden development the population has grown significantly. Deputy-mayor Arnaldo Morais Charimba said: "Because it was so quick, Tete was not ready". Around the city, roads and railways are being reconstructed and the existing 720-metre bridge was meant to reopen last December but unfortunately it did not open on the proposed date. The Sena railway line was partly reopened last year and later this year the train is expected to carry six million tonnes of coal from Vale and Riversdale to Beira. When production starts in six months delays at Beira may stall exports while mines are ready. Countries are exploring other ways to get their cargo out of the country with production expected to triple in a few years.
No reconstruction work has started on the old terminal, while another terminal is planned for later and so an atmosphere of development is not necessarily being felt. "If the port is not ready, there is no other way to get the cargo" says Fanoe.