The demand for lithium will increase exponentially in the coming years and the Bolivian reserve is the second largest in the world. La Paz is in search of funds and multinational firms want a piece of the action, but Bolivia’s policies could serve as a foreign investment hurdle.

Petrobras CEO and President José Sergio Gabrielli de Azevedo talked with AS/COA Online about Brazil's future as one of the world's top energy producers, his firm's business plan, and global partnerships in oil and ethanol production.

A São Paulo summit brought together heavyweights to talk about Brazil’s ethanol industry as well as related environmental concerns. Meanwhile, Colombia sees its own ethanol presence grow while the United States remains caught up in debate, tariffs, and subsidies.

A Brazilian delegation headed to Beijing this week to sign over a dozen deals, including a $10 billion energy pact. In recent weeks, new trade figures show China surpassed the United States as Brazil's main trading partner. The two countries also began investigating whether to drop the dollar as their bilateral trading currency.

Canada’s Minister of the Environment Jim Prentice delivered remarks emphasizing the twin needs of reaching a multilateral climate change agreement while keeping an eye to warding off protectionism. In particular, he warned against “trade protectionism in the name of environmental protectionism.”

The AS/COA Energy Action Group hosted a panel on energy and climate change in the Western Hemisphere. Following the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April and in advance of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December.

Venezuela took steps to nationalize assets of dozens of oil-service companies, expanding the state firm's control of the oil industry. Caracas faces declining revenues resulting from a global oil price slump.