Chevron, one of the largest oil companies in the world, will double the amount of money it spends in search of more oil. Over the next five years, Chevron will spend about $20 billion in Africa alone, which is thirty percent more than it spent in the previous five years. Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron, says of oil, "The world is saying it needs it." That's a hard point to argue against these days. Despite the fact that much of the world is concerned with global climate change and the need to find alternatives to petroleum, oil is still the commodity which runs the world.

Like Chevron, Exxon, the world's most profitable company, is also spending big bucks looking for additional supplies of oil. You know, if all else fails, we could just melt down Greenland. We've heard that there is plenty of oil there just waiting to be found.

Related:

• Chevron: Roughly 10% of Americans "hate us and our industry"

[Source: Bloomberg]

Let's set this story up by placing the players on a map. First, Kia, which is a South Korean automobile company. Secong, Mali, which is a country in Africa. Third, Kia Netherlands, which sells the Korean cars in Holland.

Now that we're clear on who's where, here's the story: According to AfricaNews, Kia Netherlands is offering new car buyers a chance to purchase carbon offsets by funding biodiesel production in Mali. New Kia buyers in the Netherlands can calculate their annual CO₂ emissions and donate money (between 15 and 65 Euros) to a Dutch charity, Trees for Travel, which will then plant, among other things, jatropha plants in Mali. The oil from the jatropha seeds is then processed into biodiesel and distributed locally. It may take a global network to organize this scheme, but on the face of it, it makes a lot of sense.

[Source: AfricaNews]

I'm pretty sure this is AutoblogGreen's first story about Guinea Bissau, the small west African country. An official in that country's Defense Ministry said last week that Guinea Bissau Armed Forces has a plan to make ethanol "within a few years" through a military program. In the short posting of this news over on Macauhub there is no mention of the feedstock that the ethanol will be made from. Instead, the article mentions why the military would be involved in growing crops for biofuel: too many members of the armed forces. The Guinea Bissau military apparently has 3,000 too many staff that can be ordered to grow fuel (and raise cattle). The Defense Ministry's production, modernization and social action department is responsible for the program.

[Source: Macauhub]

Not a heck of a lot of information is available yet on the Zero Rally Africa, but since there's about 14 months to go before the thing kicks off, this isn't really a problem. What we do know about the rally is that it's a 4,000 km, ten-day jaunt up from Cape Town through South Africa, Namibia and then over to Victoria Falls in Zambia. All sorts of alternative technology vehicles can take part (the website says that "electric, solar, hybrid, hydrogen and bio-fuel vehicles" are welcome), and the goal is to make the race carbon neutral. Whether that's through offsets or what is not stated.

The organizers say, "The rally will travel through some of the most dramatic landscape in the world including the greatest solar radiation area on earth.
The event will be an endurance challenge, a demonstration of the viability and practicality of planet-friendly vehicles."

Sounds like fun.

[Source: Zero Rally Africa via WorldChanging]

Donkey-drawn carriages are apparently popular forms of transportation in many countries in Africa. A company known as Water and Wheel has added a new techno-twist to this old concept: solar cells. The cells charge a 12 Volt battery, which in turn can power mobile communications and water filtration systems. In addition to being a huge help to the passengers, the system was also designed with income in mind. In more urban settings, the cart can be used as a kiosk or a small shop, even when the sun goes down. The devices are known as "Happys", which stands for Human and Animal Powered Vehicles.

[Source: AfriGadget via Engadget]

Crude palm oil (CPO), used extensively as a biodiesel feedstock in South East Asia, has seen its popularity go through the roof over the last few years as Europe's mandatory biodiesel targets have seen global demand boom. Despite the environmental concerns over large scale rainforest destruction to make way for ever more oil palm plantations, the price of CPO has been low enough that economic demand has not waned. The laws of supply and demand have started to kick in though and suddenly palm oil biodiesel is struggling to match the recent falls in petroleum diesel prices.

In the same time that crude oil prices have fallen 24 percent from last year's record of $78.40 per barrel to $60 per barrel, CPO prices have risen by an even greater degree, a massive 35 percent. After factoring currency conversion rates from the Malaysian Ringgit to the U.S. Dollar, plus production costs to turn the raw oil into biodiesel, estimates put the current price of palm-based biodiesel at close to $90 per barrel.

Even while palm oil's sun may be setting, the new kid on the biodiesel feedstock block, Jatropha oil, is gaining widespread acceptance as a more environmentally friendly and potentially less economically volatile route to a widespread biodiesel future. The price of Jatropha oil, which is non-edible, can not be influenced by fluctuations in food prices unlike palm oil which is a major edible oil crop in addition to being a biodiesel feedstock. Social commentators who have expressed concern that edible oil feedstocks like rapeseed oil, soybean oil and palm oil are being used for fuel when there are people starving in Africa are likely to support Jatropha as a good compromise.

Ironically, Jatropha's popularity is seeing money being pumped into African agriculture, but once again not for food, just for biodiesel production. The long-living plant is being viewed as the spark that can revive the African economy. Africa could potentially become the world's biggest supplier of biodiesel with Norwegian, Indian and British companies moving quickly to secure massive tracts of land on the continent for Jatropha plantations.

Analysis: Palm oil has to this point been a cheap feedstock for European and Asian biodiesel, but its environmental concerns have never been sufficiently answered. Jatropha's ability to flourish on marginal land means that it can be grown in many existing locations without further clearing of forests necessary. Africa as the world's biodiesel supplier - a remarkable thought.

Related:

• Palm oil production and prices soar on back of biodiesel
• India closing biofuels plants, Brazil opening them
• "I pledge allegiance to getting better mileage"

[Source: The Edge Daily]