This is the first in a series of five installments about Brazil’s Proalcool (Pro-Alcohol) program, initiated by the Brazilian government in 1975 to reduce dependence on foreign oil products after the Oil Shock of ‘73. H.O.
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The Brazilian National Alcohol Program, or Proalcool, was created on November 14th, 1975, by Decree No. 76.953, with the goal of fostering alcohol production, in order to meet the needs of both the Brazilian domestic market and foreign markets, as well as to comply with government policy for automobile fuels. According to the decree, the production of alcohol from sugar cane, cassava, or any other material should be encouraged through an increase in the supply of raw materials, specifically emphasizing an increase in agricultural production, modernizing and expanding existing distilleries, and developing new production units, adjacent to existing distilleries or in new locations, as well as storage units.
Sugar cane presents the highest yield for farmers per hectare planted. The cost of producing sugar in Brazil is low (less than US$ 200/ton), which means that it is capable of competing on the international market. This market, however, is volatile and presents great price variations.
World sugar production in 2000 totaled 131 million tons, with Brazil responding for 13% of this amount. The stages in the production of sugar and ethanol differ only after the juice has been extracted from the sugar cane. The juice may then by fermented to produce alcohol, or treated to obtain sugar. Whenever the prices for sugar on the international market drop, it is often more profitable to switch to ethanol production.
The decision to produce ethanol from sugar cane, which is affected by the price of sugar, is also political and economic in nature, as it involves further investments. Such a decision was made in 1975, when the Brazilian federal government decided to encourage the production of ethanol to replace pure gasoline, with the goal of reducing oil imports, which weighed heavily on the trade balance. At the time, sugar prices on the international market had been falling quickly, which made the transition from sugar to alcohol easier.
Follow what's happening in the Brazilian ethanol market on Ethablog - the only blog in English dedicated to Brazilian ethanol.
I worked with Tom MacDonald from April to August 2007. He has a long track record at the California Energy Commission with fuel ethanol, wit...
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Brazillian Authorities Raid Sugar Cane Plantation - Sugar Cane Cutters or Indebted Slaves?
Brazil is a well known, large user of sugar-cane based ethanol; 80% of all new cars sold in Brazil are "flex-fuel" models that run on gasoline, ethanol or any combination of the two.
http://e85forall.blogspot.com/
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