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Nueva Alianza, Guatemala - Biodiesel workshops

Program Coordinators

Matthew Rudolf

Program Dates

April 2005 - Present

In Daylight Magazine Issue #3 (Sustainability), we featured a selection of photographs taken by alternative fuel producing communities around the United States. This Daylight initiative has since spread around the world to include documentation of alternative fuel production in Papua New Guinea and Colombia. Now, in this project update, Matthew Rudolf relates his exciting work with a community in Guatemala.

Since April 2005 I have worked with the community of Nueva Alianza, Guatemala (near Reteahuleu), helping them to plant vegetable oil, seed crops, and produce biodiesel to power their diesel farm equipment and generator. The fuel was critical when Hurricane Stan tore up the two major highways that cross the country and made everything from drinking water to diesel fuel nearly impossible to find. In the community, the biodiesel-run generator was used to power a purified water facility that supplied potable water to devastated communities around Retalhuleu.

Some people think that biodiesel will not work in the developing world. They believe alternative fuels can only be used by economies where people are rich enough to invest money into environmental causes. But they are wrong.

Biodiesel has been called the fuel for the revolution. In Guatemala, the use of biodiesel is uniting communities, creating jobs in rural areas, and improving air quality in urban cities. As a whole, expanding our usage of biodiesel is important because the alternative fuel technology reduces greenhouse gas emissions, promotes energy independence and generates employment in farming communities. By documenting the viability and growing presence of biodiesel in Guatemala, I hope to inspire and promote its use in Latin America and elsewhere.