The future of Biofuels is under scrutiny in São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo, November 17, 2008 - The future of Biofuels is being discussed at the 1st International Conference of Biofuels in São Paulo. The conference was organized by the Civil Cabinet and by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and was opened up by the Head Minister of the Civil Cabinet, Mrs. Dilma Rousseff. The meeting, which gathers State leaders, public authorities, the scientific and academic community, representatives of the society and non-governmental agencies, started today and has as the main theme of the debates the Biofuel as a Sustainable Development Vector. Other themes will be debated up to Wednesday 19th, as energy safety, sustainable production and usage, agriculture, industrial processing, foreign trade, climate changes and the future of biofuels. Today, during the first plenary session, the theme was Biofuels and Energy Safety with the paticipation of the president of Petrobrás Biofuel, Alan Kardec. At 6:30 p.m., there will be a special session of the Economic and Social Development Council, when an opinion report by the Bioenergy Work Group will be presented, with suggestions from advisors to be forwarded to president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The 1st International Exhibit of Biofuels will be opened, highlighting the Brazilian technology that enables vehicles to use both gasoline and alcohol.

São Paulo Governor points out to the potential of ethanol

According to José Serra, Governor of São Paulo state,  “Ethanol has excellent possibilities to become the substitute or complement of gasoline, all over the world. In spite of the world financial crisis, the Brazilian ethanol continues to be competitive. Our costs are the lowest in the world. The product faces resistance in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />USA, where the production made from corn is much more expensive and it was responsible for the rise in the prices of food worldwide. But here there is no competition in sugar cane production”, asserted Serra.

There is another aspect of ethanol that, according to him, needs to be acknowledged and emphasized. “It is not only a production to have as alternative for the oil, but it is also an environmental issue. The ethanol fuel is much less polluting than the gasoline and  the State of São Paulo is responsible for 60% of the sugar production and 2/3 of the ethanol production in Brazil. “Due to the importance of the cane in the State, we have adopted some important actions, as the complete extinction of clearances by fire, determined zones for the cultivation of cane and investment in research”.