Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Cellulose to Drive Ethanol Industry

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

RIO DE JANEIRO, Jul 19 2010 (IPS) - Sugar-based ethanol, the agro-fuel with the best energy results according to Brazil's agricultural research agency EMBRAPA, could be even more competitive if it makes use of the cane stalks and pulp as cellulose ethanol. It would boost Brazil's ethanol production 30 percent without having to expand sugarcane crops. This second-generation biofuel takes advantage of what is otherwise agricultural waste, using chemical and biological processes to transform it into sugar, and then ethanol. Experts say it will be economically viable in five years.

“The research began about a decade ago, and many laboratories are working on it,” ecological consultant José Maria Gusman Ferraz, of the University of São Carlos, told Tierramérica. “The perception that petroleum is a finite resource is leading big companies like Petrobras to invest in alcohol production,” he said.