Ethanol Use in US and Brazil Rises Sharply
In Europe, not so much…
Brazil, which has to a large degree lead the ethanol charge because of its ability to use sugar cane for ethanol production rather than corn, now relies on the biofuel for 16% of its energy needs. This puts ethanol at #2 in Brazil for largest energy sources, right ahead of hydroelectric, which accounts for 14.7% of electricity production. Both of these sources, however, are behind petroleum, which is the largest energy producer in Brazil.
In the US, on the other hand, ethanol still does not play such a prominent role, even though 23.7% of the annual corn crop is going to create biofuels. The market share that ethanol commands in the US will likely only increase, especially as new technologies allow for the production of cellulosic ethanol and sources other than corn come into vogue.
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Even though ethanol seems to be one of the waves of the future, this year production was actually down in Europe, even though that loss in production was made up for by imports from ethanol-rich Brazil. Globally, ethanol only contributed 1.3% to oil consumption in 2007, but that share does appear to be rising rapidly, especially as US politicians push ethanol subsidies and Brazil continues to ramp up production in order to satisfy world demand.
Posts Related to Ethanol and the Food vs. Fuel Debate:
- USDA Says Ethanol Accounts for Only 3% of Increased Cost of Food
- “Perfect Storm” Inflating Food Prices Worldwide
- Biodiesel Myth (Or Fact?) #23: Biodiesel is Raising Food Prices
- Europe’s EPA Advises Suspending Biofuel Targets
- 2015: 30% of US Corn Harvest Will Be Gasoline
Source: agra
Image credit: Jeffrey Beall under Creative Commons
And food prices skyrocket, as well as third world countries starving.
Yeah…a great alternative.
And a lot of Brazilians are starting to use LNG as well, as soon as they get the car retrofitted with hoses and a tank and a modern gas station appears in their neighborhood.
nuts
Hey, ethanol is bad, look it up. It causes build up of extra nutrients and depletes oxygen from the oceans and kills lives like that. The nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen destroy the water. Also, you have to burn 120 gallons of oil to come up with 129 gallons of ethanol. 120 Gallons, that’s a big deal, and it’s definitely not ecological. It’s worse!
What a terrible thing. With a constant or near-constant supply of corn, increasing use of biofuels will only raise the price of corn as a food. Yeah, you’re “doing your part” to save the environment… whoop de doo. How many people will starve or suffer from undernourishment due to your self-congratulating?
Yeah this was a good idea on paper. Corn ethanol is not just making food cost rise it’s also making gas prices rise. Think about it….Isn’t ethanol supposed to make gas prices go down? It’s Grown! Brazil got it right sugar is the way to go, do the research. L8R
sad news. how can we stop it?
The link between corn used for ethanol and food prices is not as clear as people would like to think. The mainstream media has done a pretty terrible job reporting on the complexity of this issue. Using food crops for fuel is not a great idea, but before jumping to conclusions, take a look at the related posts above to learn more about what’s going on…
If you buy ethanol fuel in the USA you are hurting the economy, the environment, and yourself. There is no sustainable system of ethanol production from CORN. Only about 90% of the energy used to make the ethanol is even recovered from the ethanol. Sugar ethanol, like that in brazil, is 3 times more effective. Biodiesel from algae is far and away the best energy solution for our future.
Ethanol is a farce. It is the result of lobbiest for American farmers and does not save energy. It does in fact cause more greenhouse emissions to produce than it saves and it will ultimately contribute to higher feed stock cost and higher food cost at the market.
It is time that the ethics of government be questioned when their policies are self serving short term irresponsibility.