The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) will finance feasibility studies for biomethane production in Costa Rica

CABEI release

San José, May 8th, 2023.- Contributing to its founding partner country Costa Rica's efforts to decarbonize the economy, the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) approved non-reimbursable technical cooperation in the amount of US$150,000 for the country to carry out the necessary studies to determine the feasibility of producing biomethane.

Biomethane is an alternative fuel with characteristics similar to natural gas that offers cost and environmental impact advantages and is produced by anaerobic digestion of agricultural residues. Therefore, as a first stage of the cooperation, specialized consultancies will be carried out to comprehensively assess the supply and availability of pineapple production residues to establish production processes through processing and bio digestion.

"This technical assistance will support the country's efforts in the transition to cleaner forms of transportation, biomethane would drastically change the state of development and contribution of biofuels in Costa Rica, contributing to its energy policy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting the strengthening of productive linkages in the agricultural sector. This is undoubtedly in line with our objective of being the Green Bank of Central America and its main ally in materializing these types of efforts," said CABEI's Executive President, Dr. Dante Mossi.

If the first stage is successful, the cooperation also contemplates a second stage that would include the assessment of production cost scenarios, economic viability, and the evaluation of business models, among others, which is expected to provide accurate and truthful information for decision-making, support the development of "pilot" plans for managing new gaseous biofuel chains, and the necessary management of the road map that will enable the actors potentially involved to identify and work together.

This initiative is part of the activities of the Climate Change Investment Project Preparation Fund (FCC) and the transversal axis of Environmental Sustainability, which addresses the challenges faced by the region due to climate change. The results of the cooperation are expected to be ready 24 months after the start of the consultancy.