Brazil trails US in ethanol strategy - former ag secretary

30 June 2009 22:21  [Source: ICIS news]

PIRACICABA, BRAZIL (ICIS news)--Brazil has significantly expanded its ethanol production, but the country is trailing the US when it comes to developing a long-term strategy for biofuels, a former Brazilian cabinet member said on Tuesday.

“Brazil has the expertise but no strategy. It is appalling,” said Roberto Rodrigues, who was the Brazilian secretary of agriculture in 2003-2006.

The US ethanol programme is much younger than Brazil’s, but the US has already determined how much ethanol it wants to use in the next 13 years, Rodrigues said, referring to mandates established by the US Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS).

Under the RFS, the US will be required to use 36bn gal/year (136bn litres/year) of renewable fuels by 2022.

“The US is investing in cellulosic ethanol research, while Brazil seems to be waiting for money to fall from the sky,” he said at the opening of the SIMTEC conference in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo.

According to Rodrigues, Brazil could increase its ethanol production by more than 10 times in the coming years, but he said there would be little use for that if a global market for the product is not developed.

“Brazil must concentrate on exporting ethanol technology and not only ethanol,” he said, adding that more countries need to get involved in production so a global market can be created.

Japan has been reluctant to open its market to Brazilian ethanol because it is wary of becoming dependent on the Brazilian biofuel, said Rodrigues, who now teaches at a Brazilian business school.

“They [Japan] don’t want to trade dependence on foreign oil for dependence on foreign ethanol,” he said.

Rodrigues said global motor fuel consumption is expected to jump by more than 50% in the next 25 years due to a surge in automobile sales in China and India.

Biofuels, not crude oil, will play the main role in meeting the additional demand, he told delegates.

That represents an enormous market opportunity for Brazil and other tropical nations that can produce ethanol, Rodrigues said.

The SIMTEC conference opened on Tuesday and will end on Friday.

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By: William Lemos
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