Biodiesel fuels displacement in Colombia

"Biofuels have become 'very in vogue' these days" - World Bank Latin America Development report, 2008.

Biofuels are divided into biodiesel (oil-based), and ethanol (plant-based). The number one source of biodiesel is African palm oil. Demand and production of biofuels are growing globally. The U.S. government is taking steps to switch to biodiesel in national parks, public school districts, utility companies, NASA, USDA agencies, and all major branches of the U.S. military.

Former U.S. President George W. Bush advocated for a global increase in the production of biofuels in order to cut revenues of enemy nations such as Venezuela. Colombia's president Alvaro Uribe seeks to make Colombia the world's top biodiesel producer by growing 6 million hectares of African palm by 2020, and over 40 million hectares in the coming decades.

The U.S. has invested billions of dollars in Colombia to "fight the war on drugs and terror," and a great amount of this pie is spent funding projects dedicated to replace illegal crops with legal ones, especially those most apt for export (cash crops, in this case, African palm).
 
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