Facts, Myths and Future of Brazilian Ethanol (2)

BRUSSELS – On the 5^th and 6^th of July, presidents, ministers and business leaders from around the world gathered in Brussels to develop an international approach to reap the potential benefits of biofuels, while ensuring sustainable development and avoiding the creation of new risks. Hosting European commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, as well as many others, particularly emphasized the importance of sustainable production in countries such as Brazil. Keynote speaker and president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva, as well as UNICA’s president Marcos Jank, addressed the mistaken notion that Brazil is using the Amazon region to produce ethanol as well as other social and environmental issues. According to José Roberto Moreira, President of the Biomass Users Network and member of the executive council of Cenbio, says this shows that conferences such as this are important to provide the general public as well as politicians with real facts and the proper perspective.

Last month, the first of two articles from Mr. Moreira was published titled “The facts, myths and future of Brazilian ethanol production”. It addressed displacement of cattle into the Amazon, the sustainability of energy production in general and discussed the most important sustainability criteria, one by one. In this second article, Mr. Moreira explains how Brazil is able to expand its production in a sustainable way, in which areas it can do so and how developing countries can benefit from a global ethanol market.

The best states for sustainable expansion
Professor Moreira presents an honest and balanced view of the Brazilian potential in economic, environmental and social aspects, showing it is more than capable of producing in a sustainable way. But what states are than ideally suited for further expansion? “That depends on the weight that you give the economic, social and environmental aspects, but in my opinion you should give equal weights to all three aspects. The state of Matto Grosso do Sul scores very well on all three. It has the climatic and economic conditions for efficient production and the potential to provide better social conditions in the surrounding area’s. Additionally, since there is a fantastic extension of land that is being used as pasture with very low productivity, environmental aspects will also suffer very little if this is intensified.