Suchergebnisse

For several years the European Union (E.U.) has been promoting the use of biofuels due to their potential benefits such as the reduction of dependence on foreign energy imports (the raw materials can be produced within the E.U.), the more stable fossil fuel prices (they can replace fossil fuels on the market), the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction (biofuels' raw materials fix CO2 from the atmosphere) and the fact that they can represent an additional source of income for the primary sector (biofuels' raw materials are vegetables that can be grown and harvested). Despite the public aids (direct and indirect), biofuels are not competitive with fossil fuels at present, but it is possible that in the future the environment conditions change and biofuels might become competitive. It is difficult to assess whether this will happen or not, but it is possible to make an assessment of a future situation. This article presents two analyses with one objective: to determine if biofuels might become competitive in the future. The first analysis examines the dependencies of two quotations which have a strong relationship with fuels: the crude oil quotation and the CO2 bond quotation. The analysis of these relationships may help to forecast the future competitiveness of biofuels. For instance, biofuels' future competitiveness will be higher if their raw material costs are not related to crude oil quotations or if they are related in a negative way (the higher the crude oil quotations the lower the raw material biofuels' cost). The second analysis focuses on the market penetration of biofuels in the Spanish market. There are data related to biofuels monthly consumption in Spain since 2007 and it is possible to know if biofuels are gaining market quota since then

In recent times, the global debate on the environment has been centered on CO2 emissions. This gas is the major cause of the "greenhouse effect" and people are more concerned with the idea that the emissions of this gas should be minimized. As a result of this concern, the Kyoto Protocol was enacted and subscribed to by many countries, setting the maximum gas emissions for them. Fossil fuels are a major source of CO2 emissions. For some years now The European Union has been seeking to promote some years now the use of biofuels as substitutes for diesel or petrol for transport purposes. As a result of this policy, in 2003 the European Union (EU) Directive 2003/30/EC [1] was developed with the aim of promoting the use of biofuels as a substitute for diesel or gasoline among European Union countries as well as to contribute to fulfilling the commitments acquired on climate change, security of supply in environmentally friendly conditions and the promotion of renewable energy sources. In order to achieve these goals, the directive forces all EU members to ensure that before December 31 of 2010 at least 5.75% of all gasoline and diesel fuels sold for transport purposes are biofuels. European Union countries have social and economic characteristics unique to themselves. The energy dependence on foreign sources, the features of the agricultural sector or the degree of industrialization varies greatly from one country to another. In this context, it is questionable whether the obligation imposed by this directive is actually achieving in its application uniform and/or identical goals in each of the countries involved and whether the actions of the various governments are also aligned with these goals. All these ideas were developed in a previous report (Sobrino and Monroy (2009) [2]). This report examines the possibility of using hydrogen as an alternative to fossil fuels and biofuels from a technical, economic and environmental point of view in the specific case of a European Union country: Spain.

The progress of the country and the welfare of the people depends on productivity, as an indicator of efficiency in the use of natural resources, capital and human talent. Ecuador is going through a deep crisis in the production of coffee where demand is much greater than supply with 1,560,000 bags of deficit, mainly of robusta coffee. In this scenario, eleven universities have formed the University Network of Coffee Research and Development (REDUCAFÉ), the cooperation agreements of the universities with the National Association of Coffee Exporters (ANECAFÉ) and the company Solubles Instantáneos C.A., collaborative agreements between companies, producer organizations, universities and the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) are managed to build sustainable coffee production. The university proposes to implement a knowledge management and organizational innovation model based on the "Government + Company + Academy + Producers" (GEAP) alliance, with the objective of taking advantage of the present and future value of the knowledge assets of the coffee chain and increase efficiency in the production, transformation and commercialization of coffee, in order to improve the living conditions of coffee farmers and contribute to the economic growth of Ecuador.

The progress of the country and the welfare of the people depends on productivity, as an indicator of efficiency in the use of natural resources, capital and human talent. Ecuador is going through a deep crisis in the production of coffee where demand is much greater than supply with 1,560,000 bags of deficit, mainly of robusta coffee. In this scenario, eleven universities have formed the University Network of Coffee Research and Development (REDUCAFÉ), the cooperation agreements of the universities with the National Association of Coffee Exporters (ANECAFÉ) and the company Solubles Instantáneos C.A., collaborative agreements between companies, producer organizations, universities and the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP) are managed to build sustainable coffee production. The university proposes to implement a knowledge management and organizational innovation model based on the "Government + Company + Academy + Producers" (GEAP) alliance, with the objective of taking advantage of the present and future value of the knowledge assets of the coffee chain and increase efficiency in the production, transformation and commercialization of coffee, in order to improve the living conditions of coffee farmers and contribute to the economic growth of Ecuador.

El molusco bivalvo, Anadara tuberculosa, (concha prieta), se localiza en el ecosistema manglar de las provincias de El Oro y de Esmeraldas del Ecuador, donde está sometido a una relevante actividad de extracción. Este recurso es fundamental en la dieta alimentaria diaria, además de ser una fuente relevante de sustento económico de numerosas familias, además se está comercializando en todo el territorio ecuatoriano y con los países vecinos. El objetivo de esta investigación es plantear las estrategias que debe superar la cadena de valor de la concha prieta, para mejorar su aprovechamiento económico y social de manera sustentable. La investigación se realizó específicamente en el archipiélago de Jambelí, provincia de El Oro, Ecuador. La metodología descriptiva aplicada se basó principalmente en la revisión exhaustiva y análisis de material bibliográfico, fundamentalmente generado en los últimos años por los autores. A partir de esta información, complementada con los resultados de estudios previos sobre el desempeño de la cadena de valor de la concha prieta, compuesto por las dimensiones de productividad, competitividad y calidad de vida, se identificaron estrategias, cuyo logro coadyuvará a mejorar este desempeño: 1) Restauración del ecosistema manglar 2) Impulso de la acuicultura de baja intensidad de la concha 3) Buen manejo sanitario y depuración 4) Fomento de emprendimientos con enfoque de valor, 5) Fortalecimiento de organizaciones y de los acuerdos de uso y custodia del manglar y 6) Creación de un sistema institucional que contribuya al avance de estos retos.

The collection of black shells (Anadara tuberculosa) is an ancestral productive activity, which is carried out spontaneously and intuitively and whose importance has not been sufficiently considered, highlighted and recognized in the various governmental, business and academic spheres in Ecuador and other countries. The objective of this research is to find the indicators that determine the economic, social and environmental importance of the production of this bivalve mollusc, at a global and national level. To this end, a methodology of bibliographical research of primary, secondary and tertiary sources was applied. The contribution of black shell collection to Ecuador's GDP is US$ 15 million per year, if one includes the value added to the concha prieta at the restaurant level, which generates some 8,000 full-time and part-time jobs, mostly self-employment. It contributes to the preservation of more than 156,000 hectares of mangrove area still existing on the Ecuadorian coast. It is concluded that the production of black shells is of significant relevance in economic, social and environmental terms, with a great potential to be formally inserted in the Ecuadorian export circuit, to improve the levels of income and quality of life of the concheros (shell collectors) and to contribute to the sustainable management of the mangrove ecosystem. It is recommended to deepen the study of the economic, social and environmental variables that have greater impact on their levels of sustainability and competitiveness. ; La extracción de la concha prieta (Anadara tuberculosa) es una actividad productiva ancestral, que se realiza de manera espontánea e intuitiva y cuya importancia no ha sido suficientemente ponderada, destacada y reconocida en los diversos ámbitos gubernamentales, empresariales y académicos del Ecuador y de otros países que también la producen. Esta investigación tiene por objetivo indagar sobre los indicadores que determinan la importancia económica, social y ambiental a nivel global y nacional de la producción del molusco bivalvo concha prieta. A tal fin, se aplicó una metodología de investigación bibliográfica de fuentes primarias, secundarias y terciarias. Se obtuvo como resultado que su aporte al PIB ecuatoriano es de 15 millones de USD al año, si se incluye el valor que se agrega a la concha prieta a nivel de restaurante, picanterías y cevicherías, que genera unos 8000 puestos de trabajo de tiempo completo y parcial, la mayoría por cuenta propia. Contribuye a preservar más de 156 mil hectáreas de superficie de manglar existentes todavía en las costas ecuatorianas. Se concluye que la producción de la concha prieta registra una relevancia significativa en términos económicos, sociales y ambientales, con un gran potencial para insertarse de manera formal en el circuito exportador ecuatoriano, de mejorar los niveles de ingresos y calidad de vida de los concheros y de contribuir al manejo sostenible del ecosistema manglar. Se recomienda profundizar en el estudio de las variables económicas, sociales y ambientales que tienen mayor incidencia sobre sus niveles de sostenibilidad y competitividad.

The development and welfare of the countries depend on their productivity, it is a performance indicator about the natural resources use, capital and human talent. Ecuador is facing a deep crisis of coffee yield: 640.000 sacks of product per year and 2 200 000 sacks of demand, therefore, there is a deficit of 1 560 000 sacks of Robusta coffee mainly. In this scenario, eleven universities have created the University Network Coffee Research and Development (REDUCAFE, from its initials in Spanish), Cooperative agreements between universities and the National Association of Coffee Exporters (ANECAFË from its initial in Spanish), and two leading companies: Solubles Instantáneos C.A and Dublinsa S.A have been made; in addition, collaborative agreements between companies, unions, universities, and the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INIAP from its initial in Spanish) are in process in order to build together a sustainable coffee sector. The uni- versity proposes to implement a knowledge management and organizational innovation based on "government + business + academy + farmers" (GEAP from its initials in Spanish) partnership, within the perspective of seizing the present and future value of the knowledge assets of the coffee chain, and thereby to contribute to increase efficiency in the production, process, and marketing of Robusta coffee, to improve farmers living conditions and to promote economic growth and change of the productive matrix of Ecuador. ; El progreso del país y bienestar de los pueblos depende de la productividad, como indicador de eficiencia en el uso de los recursos naturales, capital y talento humano. El Ecuador atraviesa una profunda crisis en la producción de café: 640 000 sacos de producto al año y 2 200 000 sacos de demanda, por tanto, 1 560 000 sacos de déficit, principalmente de café robusta. En este escenario, once universidades han conformado la Red Universitaria de Investigación y Desarrollo Cafetalero (REDUCAFÉ), se avanzan acuerdos de cooperación de las universidades con la Asociación Nacional de Exportadores de Café (ANECAFÉ) y dos empresas líderes: Solubles Instantáneos C.A. y Dublinsa S.A. y se gestionan acuerdos colaborativos entre empresas, gremios, universidades e Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (INIAP) para juntos construir una caficultura sostenible. La universidad propone implementar un modelo de gestión del conocimiento e innovación organizacional basado en la alianza "Gobierno + Empresa + Academia + Productores" (GEAP), en la perspectiva de aprovechar el valor presente y futuro de los activos del conocimiento de la cadena cafetalera y así contribuir a una mayor eficiencia en la producción, transformación y comercialización del café robusta, mejorar las condiciones de vida de los cafetaleros e impulsar el crecimiento económico y cambio de la matriz productiva del Ecuador.