Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Food producers, manufacturers, and retailers may also adjust to the changing
market conditions by adopting more efficient production methods and improved
technologies to counter higher costs. For example, soft drink manufacturers may
consider substituting sugar for corn syrup as a sweetener if corn prices remain high,
while livestock and poultry producers may develop alternative feed rations that mini-
mize the corn needed for animal feed. Adjustments by producers, manufacturers,
and retailers, along with continued strong retail competition, imply that U.S. retail
food prices will remain relatively stable.
The Brazilian Example
*
Brazil has the world's second largest ethanol program and is capitalizing on plentiful
soybean supplies to expand into biodiesel. More than half of the nation's sugarcane
crop is processed into ethanol, which now accounts for about 20% of the country's
fuel supply. Initiated in the 1970s after the OPEC oil embargo, Brazil's policy pro-
gram was designed to promote the nation's energy independence and to create an
alternative and value-added market for sugar producers. The government has spent
billions to support sugarcane producers, develop distilleries, build up a distribution
infrastructure, and promote production of pure-ethanol-burning and, later, flex-fuel
vehicles able to run on gasoline, ethanol-gasoline blends, or pure hydrous (wet; 7 to
4% water content) ethanol. Advocates contend that, while the costs were high, the
program saved far more in foreign exchange from reduced petroleum imports.
In the mid- to late 1990s, Brazil eliminated direct subsidies and price setting
for ethanol. It pursued a less intrusive approach with two main elements—a blend-
ing requirement (now about 25%) and tax incentives favoring ethanol use and the
purchase of ethanol-using or flex-fuel vehicles. Today, more than 80% of Brazil's
newly produced automobiles have flexible fuel capability, up from 30% in 2004.
With ethanol widely available at almost all of Brazil's 32,000 gas stations, Brazilian
consumers currently choose primarily between 100% hydrous ethanol and a 2%
ethanol-gasoline blend on the basis of relative prices.
Approximately 20% of current fuel use (alcohol, gasoline, and diesel) in Brazil
is ethanol, but it may be difficult to raise the share as Brazil's fuel demand grows.
Brazil is a middle-income economy with per capita energy consumption only 15%
that of the United States and Canada. Current ethanol production levels in Brazil are
not much higher than they were in the later 1990s. Production of domestic off- and
on-shore petroleum resources has grown more rapidly than ethanol and accounts for
a larger share of expanding fuel use than does ethanol in the last decade.
BIOMASS FOR BIOPOWER
In addition to advanced fuels, biomass can also be used for the production of bio-
power. This can be done in several ways, including direct combustion of biomass
in dedicated power plants, co-firing biomass with coal, biomass gasification in a
combined cycle plant to produce steam and electricity, or via anaerobic digestion
*
Adapted from Coyle, W., The future of biofuels: a global perspective.
Amber Waves
, November, 2007
(http://www.thebioenergysite.com/articles/9/the-future-of-biofuels-a-global-perspective).
