Trailblazing Brazil Runs Cars on Sugar Cane
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL, March 9, 2007 — -- On the first day of his South American tour, President Bush sealed a deal with Brazil to promote international production of ethanol.
The agreement follows Bush's pledge to curb America's appetite for gasoline. It also attempts to reduce the influence of Hugo Chavez, the leftist president of Venezuela. That country is the world's fifth-largest producer of petroleum.
Standing side by side with his Brazilian counterpart, Bush said, "It makes sense for us to collaborate for the sake of mankind."
Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva called it "a new moment for fuel in the world and possibly a new moment for humanity."
When it comes to ethanol production, Brazil has blazed the trail.
The South American country is the world's largest exporter of ethanol, and nearly eight out of every 10 vehicles on Brazilian roadways run on the fuel made from sugar cane.
Both presidents heralded the pact they claim will reduce emissions that contribute to global warming, generate more jobs, and provide freedom from the fickle oil market.
But environmentalists and others warn this so-called answer to America's fuel problems could cause more problems than it solves.
"It sounds good, but in point of fact the benefits at best are very marginal," said energy analyst Bill Paul, author of the new book "Future Energy: How the New Oil Industry Will Change People, Politics and Portfolios."
For one, the cost of producing ethanol from corn, as done in the United States, is high and incompatible with America's gasoline infrastructure. Ethanol cannot be piped along with gasoline. It must be trucked and mixed in later as an additive.
That fact has environmental groups steaming.
The production of ethanol has also been linked to large-scale air and water pollution, and deforestation of the Amazon and parts of Brazil's savannah country for the planting of sugar cane.
The ripple effect is also being felt in food and agriculture.
With gasoline prices soaring, last year's jump in U.S. demand consumed 20 percent of the America's. corn crop and essentially doubled the price of feed for cattle pigs and chickens.
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