ARPEL participated on November 10 in the webinar "Opportunities for decarbonization of river transport in the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway", organized by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade) and the Intergovernmental Waterway Committee.

The purpose of the virtual workshop was to inform about the institutional framework of the Paraguay-Paraná Waterway and present the main findings of the study “Analysis of fuel substitution of the river transportation system of the Paraguay – Paraná Waterway” carried out by IDB and Olade.

The activity had the participation of representatives of different key interest groups such as governments, energy companies, transportation companies, shipyards, technology providers, international organizations, multilateral banks and civil society.

Miguel Moyano, Executive Secretary of ARPEL, stated that “the Association has been working on environmental performance and Climate Change with the companies in the sector for approximately 30 years, aligning the actors, generating knowledge, benchmarking, providing training and facilitating the exchange of experiences and best practices that result in concrete improvements in the management of companies. Along these lines, efforts such as carrying out this study are always welcome, precisely because they allow us to work on solid foundations and contribute to the rational and informed discussion of the issues, allowing to promote significant changes”.

Moyano pointed out that "meeting the expectations of the Paris Agreement requires an energy transition towards energy sources and technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions" and that "the implementation of the changes proposed and necessary to achieve a more sustainable energy system it requires a joint effort between all parties to analyze the different alternatives in a comprehensive manner, invoking all points of view on the subject and overcoming obstacles”.

Regarding the study developed by IDB and Olade, he said that: “we agree that LNG due to the maturity of the technology, the availability of natural gas resources in the region, the transportation infrastructure and the knowledge of the matter by part of the companies, is a viable alternative in the short term to promote regional development through the development of national natural resources, the generation of investments and jobs and the promotion of a more efficient maritime trade in fuels and with fewer GHG emissions and other pollutants, helping to mitigate Climate Change and improving air quality and local living conditions ”.

The link to watch the webinar is: https://youtu.be/pwtRTv4CCac