According to José Roberto Moreira, President of the Brazilian Biomass User Network, Matto Grosso do Sol is one of the best Brazilian states to expand the production capacity of sugarcane and ethanol.
“It depends on the weight that you give the economic, social and environmental aspects,” Mr. Moreira says in an interview with Ethanol Statistics, “but in my opinion you should give equal weights to all three aspects. From that point of view, 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.”
In the interview, Mr. Moreira also makes a case for expansion in the north-eastern states of Alagoas, Sergipe and Pernambuco, in addition to his assessment of the benefits for developing countries and the food or fuel debate. It is the second part of the interview titled ‘The Facts, Myths and Future of Brazilian Ethanol’.
The entire interview, titled ‘Facts, Myths and Future of Brazilian Ethanol (2)’, can be found
here.