Brazil sugarcane supplies 16% of country’s energy needs

03 November 2009 20:27  [Source: ICIS news]

PARIS (ICIS news)--Brazil relies on sugarcane to meet 16% of its energy needs, making cane the second-largest source of energy for the country after crude oil, sugarcane industry association Unica said on Tuesday.

“Brazil’s energy matrix is 46% renewable,” said Unica president Marcos Jank at FO Licht’s World Ethanol 2009 conference in Paris. That figure includes sugarcane as well as hydroelectric dams and other sources of renewable energy.

Brazil uses sugarcane to make ethanol and generate electricity, but sugarcane will also soon be used to produce ethylene and possibly hydrocarbons, he said.

The industry will supply ethanol for the development of bio-plastics and potentially sugarcane-based gasoline, according to Jank.

Unica said 23 sugarcane mills came on stream in 2009, and 15 new units are scheduled to start production in 2010.

Brazil has some 420 sugarcane mills, according to market sources.

The association said the centre-south, which accounts for 90% of Brazil’s ethanol output, is expected to process some 530m tonnes of sugarcane in the 2009 crop year.

That represents an increase of 5% from 505m tonnes in 2008, Unica said.

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By: William Lemos
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