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Brazil and Bio-fuels

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Information on Brazil and their use of bio-fuels.
? Pro's of bio-fuels
? How/if they changed over from dependence on oil to bio-fuels (has it been successful and if so how successful)
? the history; when, how, why Brazil made the decision to try bio-fuels
? History and policy of biodiesel in Brazil
? the affects on culture and economy of Brazil
? how this affects imports and exports of Brazil, including oil imports
? cost of oil vs cost of ethanol
? sugar ethanol vs corn ethanol
? who is investing in Brazil's biodiesel and sugar fields
? how this affects Brazil's economy, culture, and how it affects other countries
? the automobile technology and how Brazil changed cars from oil fuels to ethanol (bio-fuels)
? what other countries (Sweden) have followed in Brazils foot steps
? what is the US response to Brazil's bio-fuels
? what are the con's of bio-fuels

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Solution Summary

Through addressing the questions on Brazil and bio-fuels, this solution provides information and direction for this project. Supplemented with extra research of Brazil and bio-fuels. References in APA format.

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Hi,

One approach to help you with this type of research project is to collect information from various sources for each section, which you can then draw on for your final copy. This is the approach this response takes. The questions can act as a tentative outline for the body of your paper, but you will also need to include an Introduction and Conclusion as with all academic papers.

Now let's look at information from various sources, which you can draw on for your final copy. I also attached numerous other links and resources to draw on in separate files, some of which this response is also drawn.

RESPONSE:

Assignment: Information on Brazil and their use of bio-fuels.

1. Pro's of bio-fuels

There are many eco-benefits to replacing oil with bio-fuels like ethanol and biodiesel, including:

· Since such fuels are derived from agricultural crops, they are inherently renewable--and our own farmers typically produce them domestically, reducing our dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil.
· Second, ethanol and biodiesel emit less particulate pollution than traditional petroleum-based gasoline and diesel fuels. They also do not contribute to global warming, since they only emit back to the environment the carbon dioxide (CO2) that their source plants absorbed out of the atmosphere in the first place.
· Third, unlike other forms of renewable energy (like hydrogen, solar or wind), bio-fuels are easy for people and businesses to transition to without special apparatus or a change in vehicle or home heating infrastructure--you can just fill your existing car, truck or home oil tank with it (The Pros and Cons of Bio-fuels).

2. How/if they changed over from dependence on oil to bio-fuels (has it been successful and if so how successful)

Brazil's bio-ethanol is often held up as a model of sustainable bio-fuel production, and this appears to have been confirmed by a report released in October 2006 by the International Energy Agency's Bio-energy Task 40, which analyses the international bio-energy and bio-fuels trade [4, 5]. The report concluded that, in general the production of sugarcane-based ethanol as currently practiced in Brazil, is "environmentally sustainable" (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26).

Thus, it is extremely successful, at least from the economic perspective. Currently, in fact, about half of Brazil's sugarcane crop has gone into bio-ethanol production with the rest being refined into sugar. Motorists today can choose to fill up with 100 percent ethanol at half the price of gasoline at over 30 000 filling stations nationwide, or petrol blended with 20-25 percent ethanol. Ethanol accounts for 40 percent of all non-diesel consumption. And, in 2005, for example, Brazil produced 15.9 billion litres of bio-ethanol, more than one-third of the world's supply and second only to the United States. Brazil's bio-ethanol is the only large-scale bio-fuel program now able to expand without government subsidies. US' bio-ethanol from corn, in contrast, is heavily subsidized (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 February 28). To add to this, Brazil is set to double its bio-ethanol production in the next decade, the futures market rose by 62 percent in 2005, thanks to growing demand in the EU, US, China, Japan, India and elsewhere. It is also poised to vastly expand biodiesel production for export, using soya, palm oil and caster oil. Brazil is emerging as the biggest of The New Biofuel Republics (as cited in Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26) in the world, and getting bigger all the time.

3. The history; when, how, why Brazil made the decision to try bio-fuels

Brazil's bio-ethanol program goes back at least to the oil crisis in the 1970s, and has been the world's most advanced bio-fuels market for decades. There are currently nearly 300 sugar-ethanol mills in operation, with 60 or more under construction (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26).

The use of ethanol to fuel automobiles was initiated partially in response to the oil shock of 1973, and as an alternative to oil to promote self-sufficiency. In 1975, for example, the government created the Brazilian National Alcohol Program to regulate the ethanol market and encourage the production and use of fuel ethanol. The program guaranteed that all gasoline sold in the country would be blended with 22% anhydrous ethanol and that the pump price would remain competitive with gasoline. Past sugarcane crop problems have slightly altered the percentage of ethanol in Brazilian gasoline, however, mandated levels have usually remained at around 20%. Then, on June 1, 2003, the Brazilian government raised the ethanol mix in gasoline from 20% to 25%. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/brazenv.html

Currently, as mentioned above, about half of Brazil's sugarcane crop has gone into bio-ethanol production with the rest being refined into sugar. Motorists today can choose to fill up with 100 percent ethanol at half the price of gasoline at over 30 000 filling stations nationwide, or petrol blended with 20-25 percent ethanol. Ethanol accounts for 40 percent of all non-diesel consumption. And, in 2005, for example, Brazil produced 15.9 billion litres of bio-ethanol, more than one-third of the world's supply and second only to the United States. Brazil's bio-ethanol is the only large-scale bio-fuel program now able to expand without government subsidies. US' bio-ethanol from corn, in contrast, is heavily subsidized (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 February 28).

To add to this, Brazil is set to double its bio-ethanol production in the next decade, the futures market rose by 62 percent in 2005, thanks to growing demand in the EU, US, China, Japan, India and elsewhere. It is also poised to vastly expand biodiesel production for export, using soya, palm oil and caster oil. Brazil is emerging as the biggest of The New Biofuel Republics (as cited in Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26) in the world, and getting bigger all the time (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26)

Rising global demand for bio-fuels has provided an opportunity, not only to expand its sugarcane ethanol, but also to save its ailing soybean industry, by turning soybean oil into another bio-fuel, biodiesel. New plants are being constructed in Brazil every day, such as the new ethanol-biodiesel plant in Barra do Bugres, Mato Grosso, in the heart of Brazil's centre-west soybean belt, has been producing ethanol from surrounding sugarcane fields for more than 20 years, but Dedini, a leading provider of sugar-ethanol biodiesel and cogeneration plants in Brazil, constructed the integrated biodiesel plant on the site, after investing 27 million Reals (US$12.5 million). In addition, the Lula government recently passed legislation that will mandate a 2 percent blend of biodiesel from oilseed crops like soybean, sunflower or castor beans in all commercial sales of petroleum diesel by 2008 rising to 5 percent by 2013. A few hundred filling stations already offer blends. Brazil has about 10 biodiesel plants in operation and another 40 under construction (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26)

Finally, in 2006, Brazil integrated bio-ethanol and biodiesel production. For example, in a press release in December 2006, it is reported that President Lula recently inaugurated Barralcool, the first integrated bio-fuels plant that will produce sugarcane-based ethanol and biodiesel from oilseeds (Mae-Won Ho, 2006 December 26).

Also see numerous other resources attached to add to this section.

4. History and policy of bio-diesel in Brazil

Soy, the main raw material for biodiesel in Brazil, due to its massive current production, "has already become one of the principal factors behind deforestation of the Amazon and the Cerrado, a biome of savannahs and scrub forests that covers the extensive central area of Brazil," said the expert (Osava, 2006).

In 2005, as part of its ongoing energy matrix diversification, Brazil has taken a further step in promoting its renewable sources policy. Almost thirty years after creating Proálcool (the National Alcohol Programme), the most important fossil fuel substitution initiative in the global automobile market, Brazil has now authorized the commercial use of a new fuel - biodiesel. This is a biodegradable product originating from sources such as vegetable oils, animal fats, industrial residues, and sewage. Under the PNPB (the National Biodiesel Production and Utilisation Programme), the Brazilian Government has created a production chain, defined credit lines, structured its technological base, and enacted a law regulating this sector. Over the next three years, Brazil will sanction the addition of 2% biodiesel to diesel oil, a mixture that will be compulsory from 2008 and which will increase to 5% in 2013" (Biodiesel in Brazil - Overview 2005).

See full overview at URL: http://www.oti.globalwatchonline.com/online_pdfs/36488X.pdf#search=%22government%20support%20for%20Biodiesel%20in%20Brazil%22

5. The affects on culture and economy of Brazil

Research suggests mixed reviews of the cultural and social ...

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