EUROPE TO COOPERATE WITH BRAZIL TO PRODUCE ETHANOL IN AFRICA

Via EthanolBrasil, BioPact,

BioPact, a very complete web site devoted to the development of a “green energy pact between Europe and Africa”, picked up several news items on Ethanol Brasil, a new site by leading Brazilian agribusiness consultant Marcelo Coelho that discusses the Brazilian ethanol and sugar industry, and produced a very interesting write-up.

BioPact reports that, “according to Brazil's ex-minister of agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, the governments of the Netherlands and the UK will be financing ethanol production projects in Africa, and will rely on Brazilian technology and expertise to do so. This is a classic example of how so-called 'South-North-South' exchanges can unlock Africa's biofuels potential. Rodrigues speaks in his function as the coordinator of the recently established Centro de Agronegócio (created by the Getúlio Vargas Foundation, Brazil's leading social science foundation), which has taken up bioenergy as one of its main research areas.

Interestingly, the European governments in question are not taking the easiest route because they want to support the development of biofuels in some of the continent's poorest and most troubled countries. Rodrigues says that with aid of these governments, war-torn Sudan will be one of the first countries to be invited to Brazil on a mission to learn about ethanol technologies and production strategies.

The Centro de Agronegócio wants to become a leading consulting organization and will be networking in the Global South to spread Brazilian knowledge and experience with biofuel production. The Fundação Getúlio Vargas had already established a large body of expertise in the sector, but is now concentrating it in a 'biofuels intelligence centre'.”

The article continues on BioPact.

Follow what's happening in the Brazilian ethanol market on Ethablog, the only blog in English dedicated to Brazilian ethanol.