[Vision2020] Fwd: Worldwatch: Brazil's Ethanol Success, PDF Downloads

[Tom Trail]

>Visionaries--an interesting article about ethanol from the Earth Policy

         Institute

    Tom Trail

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>Can the U.S. Replicate Brazil's Success with Ethanol?
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>American viewers who saw 
><http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12676374/>Dateline NBC and 
><http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/04/60minutes/main1588659.shtml>60 
>Minutes reports on May 7 are now asking: If Brazil could ramp up its 
>use of ethanol and diminish its dependence on foreign oil, why can't 
>we?
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>According to 
><http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20060509/pubs/sow/2006/toc/4/>State of 
>the World 2006, ethanol represented only a small share of Brazil's 
>market until the 1970s, when the government made reducing oil import 
>dependence a national priority. As a result of a combination of tax 
>breaks and fuel blending mandates that drove investment in ethanol 
>production and use, the industry made rapid progress.
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>The Brazilian government also promoted the manufacture and sale of 
>all-ethanol cars and provided subsidies to increase sugar production 
>and distillery construction, while infrastructure was developed to 
>distribute ethanol to thousands of pumping stations around the 
>country. As a result, by the mid-1980s, ethanol-fueled vehicles 
>accounted for 96 percent of total car sales.
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>But growth slowed dramatically in the 1980s and 90s as oil prices 
>fell and sugar prices rose, and by 1997, sales of ethanol vehicles 
>came crashing down to less than 1 percent of total vehicle sales. To 
>address this problem, in 2003 Brazil began encouraging flexible fuel 
>vehicles that can run on virtually any mixture of gasoline and 
>ethanol, changing the ethanol market overnight. In 2005, flex-fuel 
>vehicles accounted for more than half of new cars sold.
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>Since the 1970s, Brazil has saved almost $50 billion in imported oil 
>costs-nearly 10 times the national investment through 
>subsidies-while creating more than 1 million rural jobs.
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>Brazil's experience shows how government leadership and smart 
>policies can reduce dependence on imported oil while boosting local 
>economies. It's a success story that a growing number of U.S. 
>political and industry leaders are eager to emulate.
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>World's Top Ethanol Producers, 2004
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>		Country				Amount
>(million liters)				Share of World Production
>(percent)				Primary Feedstocks 
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>	Brazil				15,110 
>	37				Sugarcane 
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>	United States				13,390 
>		33				Corn 
>								China 
>				3,650				9 
>				Corn, cassava, and other grains 
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>	India				1,750 
>	4				Sugarcane, cassava 
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>	France				830 
>	2				Sugar beets, wheat 
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>	SOURCE: See 
><http://www.worldwatch.org/ct/20060509/pubs/sow/2006/>State of the 
>World 2006, Chapter 4, Endnote 13.
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-- 
Dr. Tom Trail
International Trails
1375 Mt. View Rd.
Moscow, Id. 83843
Tel:  (208) 882-6077
Fax:  (208) 882-0896
e mail ttrail at moscow.com
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