Eduardo Mallmann

At Green Social, Eduardo is creating the capacity to produce social bio-ethanol through micro-bio refineries managed by groups of smallholders. He is thus increasing the energy independence of family farmers, combating the tendency toward mono-cropping associated with most efforts to produce bio-fuel and generating new sources of income for smallholders and cooperatives. Eduardo grew up in a family that pushed him, from a very young age, to think ahead of the curve. His parents gave him a sense of social responsibility and entrepreneurship. In 1982, when he was 22 years old, he became a Civil Engineer committed to finding new solutions for the rural communities where he grew up. In 2003, he developed a pioneering rural development project in small communities in Venezuela. A few years later, associated with Ashoka Fellow Rodrigo Baggio’s organization, he created a school to promote digital inclusion. In 2007 Eduardo met Harry Stokes, Director of Project Gaia and learned about how life quality of Ethiopian refugees had dramatically improved as result of the conscientious introduction of renewable energy technologies. That was a turning point for him, becoming certain of the path he had to follow. Then Eduardo started developing the concept of social bioethanol and the micro-distillery model. Given the proven success of this model for producing clean energy and his role as a social entrepreneur committed with sustainable innovation, Eduardo was elected Ashoka Fellow in 2011. Since then, he and the team working with him at Green Social had already been invited to join a series of events and to partner with important local and international institutions.