Abstract

MATHEWS, John. A Biofuels Manifesto: Why biofuels industry creation should be ‘Priority Number One’ for the World Bank and for developing countries. Revista Virtual REDESMA [online]. 2008, vol.2, n.1, pp. 25-48. ISSN 1995-1078.

Traditional industrial development pathways, that did not take into explicit consideration the issue of energy technologies to be utilized, now imperil development prospects around the world. As oil supplies approach their peak globally, and energy security becomes a major issue, so developing countries have everything to lose by simply following fossilfuel based industrialization, and everything to gain by recasting their development strategies around the prospects for renewable energies and biofuels. This is now a feasible prospect, as shown dramatically by the Brazilian experience, now being replicated in many developing countries, including most notably in India and China. These three countries - the BICs - are now leading the developing world to a new energy future and a new pathway of industrial development. This paper argues that the time is therefore ripe for developing countries, and development agencies such as the World Bank, to re-evaluate their stance on biofuels. The paper argues that a swing behind biofuels can unlock a chain reaction of favorable developmental processes - provided developing countries seize the initiative and set in place renewable energy industry creation projects before the developed world has managed to shake itself out of its fossil fuel dependence.