Brazil wants to become the Saudi Arabia of ethanol
"Brazil has all the necessary conditions to become the Saudi Arabia of ethanol", affirms Petrobas board member, Paulo Roberto Costa. He also adds "Brazil is surely to become the preferred biofuel provider of the world". After such enthusiastic (!) affirmations from Mr. Costa, let's have a look at the facts and previsions for the following years.Ethanol production for 2006 was 3.5 billion liters and the previsions for 2012 are 9 billion. But this ethanol is not only for Brazilian cars: 5.5 billion gallons are to be exported. Petrobras will get the biggest part of the market, with 3.5 billion sold mostly to Japan. Petrobras, the biggest Latin American oil company, is planning to invest 1.2 billion dollars in biofuel production (both for biodiesel and ethanol).
The strategy for Petrobras is selling the Japanese the ethanol they need for Japan's upcoming 3 percent ethanol blend in gasoline while also selling sugarcane ethanol to Venezuela, Nigeria and the US. Mr. Costa also affirmed that they're negotiating with South Korea and China for a similar agreement.
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[Source: O Globo via Econoticias]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Tim 9:18AM (6/27/2007)
These fools may just be stupid and greedy enough to take out the rain forests to make room for biofuels. We need a more efficient source like Algae online NOW to stop this tragedy from happening.
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Scott 9:58AM (6/28/2007)
Oh I think it's pretty much a guarantee that they'll turn the entire Brazilian rainforest into sugarcane fields if it means they can turn a buck from it. Biofuels are no free lunch and I hardly think it's worth burning etoh instead of gasoline if it means some of the world's most beautiful forests disappear.
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