Brazil’s Lula stands firm on biofuel expansion

09 June 2008 20:09  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Brazil remains committed to the expansion of biofuels production, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday.

Speaking in a radio address, Lula attributed a wave of public opinion against ethanol and biodiesel production to the public relations efforts of large oil companies and producers in other countries who use higher-cost feedstock.

Some segments of society claim large scale production of biofuels has shifted land use away from food production and driven up prices of staple goods.

Citing the previously reported example of fears over land invasion in the Amazon for biofuels crops, Lula said such concerns are absurd.

“There is no reason, outside the country, to claim that sugar cane is invading the Amazon,” he said in Portuguese.

Lula also addressed concerns about labour conditions in Brazil and the shift toward mechanised sugar cane harvesting. He stated that the government would seek to foster conditions for unskilled labourers in the sugarcane industry to acquire skills and obtain employment in other occupations.

The trend toward mechanisation has recently arisen as a domestic political issue over job losses.

Brazil is the world’s largest ethanol exporter, and the second-largest producer after the US.

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By: John Waggoner
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