[dailyarchive/2005_03/exchange_rates.htm]
Daily Edition: San José, Costa Rica, March 31, 2005
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Biofuels Conference
Explores Options
From palms to coconuts, castor beans and jojoba, the ingredients to reduce global warming, combat cancer and boost the economy could be growing in many Latin Americans' backyards – without their knowledge.
(Click for more)
World Bank Gives $30 Million
Educational Loan to Costa Rica
WASHINGTON (EFE) – The director of the World Bank today announced the approval of a $30 million loan to help Costa Rica bridge the education gap between rural and urban areas.
(Click for more)
Tico Soccer Team Ties
Trinidad, Tobago 0-0
Goooooooooolllllllll was not a word heard yesterday before Costa Rica 's national soccer team, La Selección , slinked off the field in Puerto España , Trinidad and Tobago , after a scoreless game against their Caribbean islander adversaries.
(Click for more)
New Cell Phone
Lines Available
All clients with a cellular service request number lower than 3,000 are now eligible to purchase a line at authorized Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) dealers.
(Click for more)
March 31
Arts Festival Registration Deadline is Today
All resident artists in theater, music and dance are invited to send performance proposals for the 6th Annual National Arts Festival by the end of the day today, by fax or e-mail, including group resumé, press reviews, technical requirements, contract conditions and a video/DVD or audio cassette/CD. For more details, contact the Arts Festival office at 233-6441, 223-6961, fax 223-7025, festart@racsa.co.cr , Melico Salazar Theater, 3rd floor.
Music Night
Aaron Wells, from the United States , and Costa Rican Patrice Miener will perform tonight at 10 p.m. at Club Vertigo, Centro Colón, main floor. Info: www.vertigocr.com .
Art Show Opening
Carmen Aguilar will inaugurate her ceramics exhibit tonight at the Sophia Wanamaker Gallery in Barrio Dent. It will be on display until April 28. Info: 207-7554.
Edited By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff
kstanley@ticotimes.net
Biofuels Conference
Explores Options
By María Gabriela Díaz
Tico Times Staff
mgdiaz@ticotimes.net
From palms to coconuts, castor beans and jojoba, the ingredients to reduce global warming, combat cancer and boost the economy could be growing in many Latin Americans' backyards – without their knowledge.
According to biochemist Randall von Wedel, from the BioSolar Group-Cytoculture International in San Francisco , California , a mixture of oil from any of these crops with methanol or ethanol will produce biodiesel, a non-toxic, non-flammable, clean-burning fuel.
Von Wedel was one of the speakers at the first annual international Ethanol and Biodiesel Conference that began Tuesday at the Real Intercontinental Hotel in the western San José suburb of Escazú, with more than 200 members of the international biofuels industry. Delegates included government officials from Costa Rica , Colombia and Guatemala , and private engineers, plant builders, market analysts, financial consultants and trade specialists.
The conference, scheduled to end today, represents an opportunity for “ Costa Rica and many other countries that are looking to renewable sources to provide local economic development, energy independence and creative solutions to protect the environment,” according to Randy Stratton, conference chairman.
“Diesel exhaust is toxic, carcinogenic and responsible for the deaths of 20,000 Americans from lung disease every year,” von Wedel said during his presentation yesterday, called “Biodiesel Strategies for Latin America .”
The biochemist explained diesel is a major contributor to global warming climate change, and the sulfur oxide in its exhaust produces acid rain. In addition, petroleum diesel represents a major import for Latin American countries, he said.
He pointed to California , home of the first biodiesel gas station in San Francisco , where school buses in the Berkeley Unified School District run on a pure blend of biodiesel, as an example to the rest of the world.
“ Costa Rica can make the transformation to biofuels on the small scale,” said engineer William Ulate, from Costa Rica 's National Oil Refinery (RECOPE).
The engineer said RECOPE has set in motion a project to test the benefits of a mixture of gasoline and ethanol on 31 cars, including his own.
“We have to take this transition in stages. Our next step will be to set up a project testing biodiesel,” he told The Tico Times yesterday.
Other speakers at the conference covered topics in energy legislation, government incentives for biofuels and construction of commercial ethanol and biodiesel plants, among other topics relating to the biofuels industry.
For more information, visit www.centralbiofuels.com and www.biodiesel.org .
World Bank Gives $30 Million
Educational Loan to Costa Rica
WASHINGTON (EFE) – The director of the World Bank today announced the approval of a $30 million loan to help Costa Rica bridge the education gap between rural and urban areas.
The money will go to the Project for Equality and Efficiency in Education, which seeks to improve education in rural areas, including indigenous communities and regions with high racial minority populations.
“ Costa Rica has made extraordinary achievements in the social sector in the past 25 years, and this project is an example of the government's commitment to closing the education gap between rural and urban zones,” said Jane Armitage, World Bank director for Central America , in a statement.
Sustainable social progress in Costa Rica means “optimizing the use of human, physical and financial resources to the benefit of all Costa Ricans,” she added.
Through the project, the World Bank loan will benefit approximately 230,000 poor students in elementary grades.
The project aims to improve Ministry of Education training to identify, coordinate and supervise educational services in marginalized zones.
It also seeks to improve the way in which economic and institutional resources are distributed in the rural education sector.
The World Bank loan was granted for a 10-year period, and includes a four-year grace period.
Tico Soccer Team Ties
Trinidad, Tobago 0-0
Goooooooooolllllllll was not a word heard yesterday before Costa Rica 's national soccer team, La Selección , slinked off the field in Puerto España , Trinidad and Tobago , after a scoreless game against their Caribbean islander adversaries.
The game was Costa Rica's third and perhaps most apathetic in the final eliminatory round for the 2006 World Cup in Germany, marked by La Sele 's refusal to take risks, with few memorable plays and fewer heroics.
The first half opened with bad soccer played mostly in midfield. Trinidad and Tobago dominated ball play for the first 25 minutes, after which time Costa Rica took the reins and controlled the ball until the final whistle. La Sele took two unsuccessful goal shots during that time.
Costa Rica will next square off against the United States in an away game June 4.
--EFE
New Cell Phone
Lines Available
All clients with a cellular service request number lower than 3,000 are now eligible to purchase a line at authorized Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) dealers.
To activate the line, all clients must bring: an original and copy of both sides of their cédula or residency identification cards; a photocopy of a public utility receipt in the client's name; an original and copy of a receipt for the purchase of the cell phone; the name and I.D. number of a beneficiary; and a deposit of ¢12,500 ($27), according to an ICE statement.
One week will be necessary for the process of granting the line, the statement added. The institute will grant a maximum of two lines per person or five lines per business.
To consult the list of cell phone models authorized by ICE, visit the institute's Web site at www.grupoice.com . To register on the waiting lists for a cell phone line, call 193 or 115 or visit any ICE agency.
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