Brazil Exemplifies Global Move toward Clean Energy

Wrapping up a six-day tour of the Amazon Rain Forest and semi-arid areas of Northeast Brazil before Christmas, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz called for stronger global action on protecting the environment and developing energy alternatives for economic growth and fighting poverty.

Today, 42 percent of Brazil’s energy use comes from renewable sources, compared with 6 percent for OECD countries. Around 90 percent of Brazil’s electricity comes from hydropower. Brazil is also the world’s largest producer and consumer of fuel ethanol from sugarcane as a transportation fuel, an achievement possible because it is the world’s most efficient producer of sugarcane, which accounts for about 60 percent of the cost of ethanol production. The ethanol program in Brazil is saving around 180,000 barrels per day of gasoline, valued at about US$4 billion per year. This means that about 24 million tons less CO2 are added to the atmosphere each year.

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