Brazil’s Bioethanol Initiative Essay -- Essays Papers

Brazil’s Bioethanol Initiative The OPEC oil embargo caused many ripple effects throughout the world, but few places set in motion a response as dramatic as the county of Brazil. Brazil, a sprawling oil-poor country in South America was hit especially hard by the drop in ready world oil supplies. The county was gearing up for the transition from an agricultural and subsistence economy, to an industrialized one in the early seventies. This was accompanied by an increase in oil imports to the nation from overseas. Early in this effort, the balance of trade was relatively good despite the oil imports due to a strong sugar market. This led to a relative abundance of foreign or â€Å"hard† capital for the Brazilian government to use to implement widespread changes to the county’s infrastructure. With the advent of the oil embargo, that changed the economic picture. The blow was worsened by sugar prices plummeting on the commodities market during the same period, giving the Brazilian economy a reeling combination. The Government reacted by instituting a relatively daring national policy, designed to deliver a two -pronged benefit to the county. The plan was to use the national excess sugar production to make ethanol for vehicle use. This program began in 1975 and was to use traditional fermentation to make fuel. Fermentation is the best known process by which various microbes break down sugars to make ethanol. While there a wide range of yeasts and bacteria that can make alcohol, the base substrate remains essentially the same. It requires either glucose or sucrose for the biologic pathways to function. This is arguably the earliest biotechnological process in the world and has been used for fuel, consumption and feedstocks for cent... ...ion of cellulose can be utilized to make substrate for fermentation, a technology that Brazil has invested in recently to make better use of its fibrous wastes from cane and other crops. Brazil has taken bold steps to self-sufficiency in the last three decades and has been a model often pointed to by the alternative energy community. I believe that they have plotted a courageous course and will be in the position to gain the fruits of their labors soon. Perhaps they can lead the rest of us by example. References: Assessing the Impact of the Green Revolution, 1960-2000 Evenson, R.A. and Gollin D. ; May 2003, Science, vol.3 Brazilian Biomass Processing Meetings (1998/99) www.ieabioenergy.com/library/66_ieanews2.html IEA Task 26: Biotechnology for the Conversion of Lignocellulosics to Ethanol, No 2 May 1998 www.ieabioenergy.com/library/66_ieanews2.html