Sweet energy path for Brazil

If there were any doubt about ethanol’s mainstream role as an alternative fuel in Brazil, it was wiped away this year. “If we don’t have serious problems, if things develop normally, by 2010 we are going to produce more than double the ethanol that we produce now,” said Biagi, who also advises Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on agricultural issues. Biagi said nearly 90 sugar mills, where the cane is refined into fuel, are scheduled to be on line by 2013. Some are being planned by international investors in partnership with Brazilian growers.

Petrobras exports ethanol mainly to Venezuela and Nigeria. But it is negotiating to expand or open new markets for ethanol in the United States, Japan, India, China, South Africa and South Korea. Brazil’s Agriculture Ministry predicts that ethanol exports will triple by 2015.

chicagotribune