ABSTRACT
Many countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and Southern Africa (SA) share common concerns regard to the energy scenario such as high dependence on imported fossil fuels and limited coverage of modern energy services. This chapter summarizes studies developed in the LACAf Project and aims to foresee, from a joint perspective on both LAC and SA regions, the reasons and preliminary limits to foster sugarcane bioenergy. The use of sugarcane bagasse as fuel in thermal power plants has a huge potential to increase electricity production and diversify the energy mix of LAC and SA. This should induce a reduction of foreign fuel imports for electricity generation and improve the electricity supply. The chapter then introduces the hypothesis and evaluations developed to estimate the potential impact to displace fossil fuels, generate electricity and mitigate carbon emissions, closing with a set of conclusions and recommendations.
