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BRAZIL: A Bio-Energy Superpower
By Mario Osava*
RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 4 (Tierramérica) - Rising oil prices and the upcoming
implementation of the Kyoto Protocol on greenhouse gases, following the
recent ratification by Russia, are accelerating the process of turning
Brazil into a world leader in ''bio-energy''.
Exports of alcohol made from sugarcane are expected to increase from 800
million litres last year to two billion litres this year - this expansion
trend continues independent of rising world oil prices.
There are many countries, like Japan, that are moving to blend ethanol with
gasoline, or increase the alcohol additives in fuel, as a means towards
curbing air pollution.
It augurs for renewable energy sources having a strong global impulse with
the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, which sets goals for reducing
emissions of greenhouse gases, responsible for climate change.
The Russian Senate announced its ratification of the global treaty Oct. 27.
Once it is enacted by the Russian president, the Kyoto Protocol will enter
into force, as it has finally achieved the required threshold of countries:
a total that produces at least 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gases.
In Brazil, renewable fuel is recuperating the popularity it had in the
1980s, and not just because of the lower price. There is a growing demand
for ''bi-fuel'' automobiles that can use gasoline, fuel alcohol or any mix
of the two. These cars were put on the market last year.
In 1985 and 1986, alcohol-fuelled vehicles had achieved the incredible
proportion of 76 percent of all of Brazil's car production. But supply and
price problems eroded the Proalcohol programme for fuel substitution that
had been launched during petroleum crisis of 1973.
Output of alcohol-driven cars hit bottom in 1997 - just 0.06 percent of
total car production, according to Brazil's National Association of
Automotive Manufacturers.
Since then there has been a gradual recovery, which was particularly notable
last year, with 84,173 alcohol-fuelled cars, including the bi-fuel vehicles,
represented 4.6 of automotive production. This year that portion is expected
to be five times as big, as 253,817 such cars were produced from January
through September.
The possibility of using one fuel or another, along with the reasonable
price, contributes to public confidence in alcohol as a fuel in general. It
reduces the risk of shortages or sudden price hikes at service stations.
In addition, all gasoline in Brazil contains 20 to 25 percent anhydrous
alcohol, which reduces petroleum dependence and pollution. And work is
beginning on manufacturing crop spraying aircraft that run on ethanol.
The subsidised development of Proalcohol cost some 40 billion dollars, but
the country has ''already recovered those expenses'' and is now seeing its
fruits, including the continued development of related technology, Osvaldo
Stella Martins, an expert with the National Centre for Biomass Research,
told Tierramérica.
The sugarcane needed to make Brazil the world leader in sugar and alcohol
production also generates enormous quantities of waste pulp, a source of
energy that feeds the electricity market as well as running the sugar mills
and distilleries.
Now the new biodiesel programme is motivating researchers and business
leaders. The government announced that it will authorise its addition to
regular diesel fuel in November, in a proportion of two percent and
increasing to five percent over the next few years.
Beyond reducing the need to import fuel and curbing environmentally harmful
emissions, the programme is intended to be socially inclusive, generating
hundreds of thousands of jobs and promoting family farming in impoverished
areas, says Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos.
It is also a government priority to promote production of fuel using the
castorbean (Ricinus communis) in the Brazilian northeast, the country's
poorest region. But biodiesel made from castorbeans must be more heavily
subsidised, as it costs three times more than petroleum, said Stella, a
mechanical engineer who holds a doctorate in ecology and natural resources.
Castor oil, the raw material for hundreds of chemical, medicinal and
cosmetic products, has great unsatisfied global demand, and it would be more
logical to promote its production as an industrial input, instead of using
it for biodiesel and burdening society with the cost of subsidies in order
to ''resolve a problem for Petrobras,'' the giant state-run oil company, he
said.
The problem is that Petrobras must produce diesel without sulphur, for
environmental protection reasons, and it would be better to substitute that
lubricant with biodiesel, transferring costs to society, explained the
expert.
Studies are under way for producing biodiesel using other plant sources, and
even from the vegetable oil waste in cities, such as from food processing
and restaurant cooking.
The alternative that most excites Stella and forestry engineer Laercio
Couto, president of the National Network for Biomass Energy, is to make use
of agricultural and forestry waste.
Lumber production uses 45 percent of the tree, leaving ''incredible''
biomass sources, Couto told Tierramérica.
The lumber waste is packed into cylinders to reduce volume and humidity, and
to facilitate transport, and is exports to Europe are beginning. But last
year just 40,000 tons were sold, while the demand reaches two million tons,
the engineer added.
Brazil, with its land, sun, and water resources, is a major producer of
biomass, and the process of photosynthesis makes the South American country
an energy superpower, according to José Bautista Vidal, the ''father'' of
Proalcohol.
However, the great distances and insufficient infrastructure that make
transportation expensive continue to create obstacles in the energy business
beyond local production and use, Couto said.
(* Mario Osava is an IPS correspondent. Originally published Oct. 30 by
Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network.
Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing
of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations
Environment Programme.)
(END/2004)
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