6 October 2009: The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will fund a feasibility study in Chile to explore sustainable biodiesel derived from forest industry byproducts and wood waste, which do not compete with food production.

The US$1 million technical cooperation grant will help the firm ForEnergy build a facility for producing hydrogen and steam from woodchips or other woody biomass through a gasification process. In a second phase these gases will be converted into a type of biodiesel.
Woodchips and waste timber are available in large quantities as a byproduct of Chile’s mature wood products industry. The Chilean Government is promoting the development of alternative sources of energy as part of a long-term strategy to increase energy security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The IDB grant was financed through the Bank’s Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Initiative (SECCI). [IDB Press Release]