Brazil ethanol promise opens way to EU market

28 April 2008 21:48  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Brazil told Germany on Monday that its booming ethanol industry posed no threat to the Amazon rainforest or to world food supplies, a statement aimed at keeping the door open for ethanol exports to Europe.

The statement came as Germany announced its intention to sign an energy agreement with Brazil next month, “in a partnership that will determine how biomass is to be used for biofuels production”, official news wire Agencia Brasil reported.

“It will be an opportunity for Brazil to show that it can produce biofuels in a sustainable manner,” Germany environment secretary Sigmar Gabriel was quoted as saying during a press conference in Brasilia.

The EU plans to displace 10% of its fossil fuel consumption with alternative fuels by 2020. But concerns have been voiced in Europe over sustainability of biofuels and their impact on world food supplies.

Once the sustainability issue is resolved, “there will be no difficulties for Germany and Europe to import Brazilian ethanol”, Gabriel said, according to Agencia Brasil.

Brazil environment minister Marina Silva said Brazil could double its ethanol production “without cutting another single tree”, Agencia reported.

Environmentalists have warned that demand for ethanol could lead to further deforesting in the Amazon, as Brazil expands its sugarcane fields.

Brazil has categorically dismissed such claims, saying the Amazon soil is not fit for sugarcane and that it only uses about 1% of its arable land to grow sugarcane for ethanol production.

For more on ethanol visit ICIS chemical intelligence

Bookmark Simon Robinson’s Big Biofuels Blog for some independent thinking on biofuels

By: William Lemos
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