RSSBiofuel: What Is It & What Are The Leading Countries
Dec 13
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Biofuels are currently the best environmentally conscious alternative to the use of fossil fuels. Brazil is the world leader in the production of biofuels thanks to the investment that its government has been providing for the past 40 years.
Other countries in Latin America are following in Brazil’s footsteps in developing eco-friendly biofuels with the support of groups such as Inter-American Development Bank. The most important producers in the region are Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados.
So far, the most recognized use of biofuels is in ethanol, a gasoline mix of biofuels and fossil fuels (oil). Brazil has developed to a point at which it exports a surplus of ethanol, and the vast majority of motor vehicles are of a flex-fuel design. Furthermore, the original ethanol “recipe” was 85 percent gasoline and 15 percent biofuel, but Brazil gradually has improved the mix to 75 and 25 percent.
Currently, the main use of biofuel is for the production of ethanol, a gasoline mix of biofuels and fossil fuels. Brazil has been able to optimize their production to a point where they are exporting their surplus. The majority of their vehicles are also able to efficiently use ethanol. They are finding new ways to improve the original recipe of 85 percent gasoline and 15 percent biofuel. So far, they have managed to get a recipe of 75 percent gasoline and 25% biofuel.
Why it is so important to develop biofuels? Oil and Coal will eventually be depleted by humans in the future. Biofuels are produced from renewable crop therefore it is considered as an eco-friendly source along with solar, wind and geothermal energy. Another advantages is that biofuels emit less carbon dioxyde than fossil fuels.
Brazil’s Courageous, Controversial Investment
Brazil became an eco-friendly pioneer with biofuels during the 1970s, at a time when other nations were turning their backs. Ethanol at the time cost three times more than gasoline. Brazil had an edge, with a culture of growing sugarcane rooted in centuries of tradition. Still, government leaders needed to make a massive infrastructure investment that was not always popular, especially during times when world oil prices bottomed out.
The spark for Brazil came with the Middle East oil embargo of 1973. Investments were required in agricultural production of sugarcane, and in building new facilities, backed by government subsidies and tax cuts. By 1990, Brazil was producing 20 times more ethanol than in 1973 and had become “energy independent,” an achievement that is the envy of other nations. The world’s first automobile to run on ethanol was a 1979 Fiat produced in Brazil.
Brazil now is offering its biofuel and ethanol expertise on an international scale, especially to developing nations in Latin America, the Caribbean and in Africa. Analysts say results are starting to show with the decline in Middle East oil prices during the past six months.
Other nations are working to develop their own biofuels with resources at hand. European countries are focusing on wheat and sugar beets. Southeast Asia’s product of choice is palm oil. Chinese farmers are growing sorghum, and in India the crop is jatropha. The United States may gradually switch from corn to soybeans and switch grass. Some nations, such as Great Britain, are developing solid biofuels with the use of everything from dried farm manure to everyday trash.
With all their efforts, no other country in the world has managed to find a green, eco-friendly biofuel that performs to the level of Brazil’s sugarcane
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