Biofuels in Perspective

Bio-Ethanol Development(s) in Brazil 73
Another important issue is that subsidies are essential and will be required for many
years, but it is fundamental to clearly impose conditions (e.g. improvements on productivity,
cost reductions) and to define the time extent of the given benefits. This was not done
appropriately in Brazil for many years and the results were an installed capacity larger
than necessary in the short term and the entrance of producers not exactly interested in the
future of the ethanol market.
Continuous technological development is a challenge that needs to be faced by an
energy sector in general, and by biofuels producers in particular. Taking the example of
Brazil regarding the continuous development of cane varieties, this has been essential also
because of the need to avoid plagues and diseases that could devastate the production
in few years. Some required developments are time consuming and must be oriented to
specific targets, and these challenges are difficult to be overcome by a single new producer
country. Cooperation between producer countries and between developed and developing
countries should be explored. In this sense, Brazil has great expertise to share regarding
ethanol production from sugarcane.
In addition, it seems naïve to imagine that a biofuel program would be able to induce
by itself reforms that could solve structural problems in a certain country, such as wealth
distribution and endemic poverty. However, a biofuel program should be planned and
developed to be part of the evolutionary process that society needs. Brazilian production
of ethanol is based on plantations, and few entrepreneurs have the ownership of farms and
industries. There are thousands of sugarcane suppliers in Brazil (about 60,000, responsible
for about 30–35 % of the sugarcane produced 36 ), but in a given region the market is
monopsonic, or close to that. The production based on cooperatives of producers is a
challenge that needs to be faced by a new producer country.
Finally, as stated by Goldemberg, 37 large-scale production of ethanol from sugarcane
can be replicated in other countries without serious damage to natural ecosystems. In order
to displace about 10 % of the gasoline used in the world it will be necessary to expand
sugarcane production by a factor of ten. The area required, about 30 Mha of sugarcane in
Brazil and in other countries, mostly developing countries, is a small fraction of the more
than 1 billion hectares of primary crops already harvested on the planet.
4.9 Conclusions
Large-scale production of ethanol in Brazil is a relevant case study, both because of
the good results achieved and the mistakes done. The importance of ethanol as automotive
fuel in Brazil is unique, and barely will be observed in another country. Brazil is so far the
unique country where ethanol is competitive with gasoline with no subsidies and where
there is real competition in the market between these two fuels.
Ethanol production costs in Brazil must be the lowest in the world for many years and
perhaps ever. However, in order to keep its position as a leading country and – mainly – to
be really competitive in the international market, it is necessary to maintain R&D efforts,
while considering different routes of production (e.g. hydrolysis and biofuels production
based on biomass gasification) and different fuels (e.g. the production of diesel oil through
synthesis gases). In this sense, diversification of production is an essential issue and it is