Brazil Defends Production of Biofuels

The Brazilian government said on Monday that the production of biofuels does not increase food prices at the opening of the second ethanol summit.

“Ethanol cannot be the scapegoat for the failure of international organizations, because the production and use of ethanol were not and will not be responsible for the prices of agricultural primary materials,” presidential chief of staff Dilma Rousseff said upon inaugurating the meeting in Sao Paulo.
Rousseff emphasized that biofuels have made it possible for Brazil to derive 46 percent of its energy from renewables, compared with a global average of 12 percent.

Brazil has a fleet of more than seven million flex-fuel automobiles, which allow the burning of sugar-based ethanol, gasoline or a mixture of the two, and even regular gas has to contain 25 percent ethanol.

Latin American Herald Tribune