Brazil’s Bioethanol Initiative Essay -- Essays Papers

Brazils Bioethanol InitiativeThe OPEC oil colour embargo ca drilld numerous ripple effects throughout the world, but few places set in motion a response as dramatic as the county of Brazil. Brazil, a sprawling oil-poor country in South America was hit specially hard by the drop in ready world oil supplies. The county was gearing up for the transition from an agricultural and subsistence economy, to an industrialized one in the early seventies. This was accompanied by an increase in oil imports to the earth from overseas. Early in this effort, the balance of trade was relatively good notwithstanding the oil imports due to a strong lollipop market. This led to a relative abundance of foreign or hard capital for the Brazilian government to use to implement widespread changes to the countys infrastructure.With the advent of the oil embargo, that changed the economic picture. The blow was worsened by sugar prices plummeting on the commodities market during the same period, giving the Brazilian economy a reeling combination. The Government reacted by instituting a relatively daring national policy, designed to deliver a two -pronged benefit to the county. The plan was to use the national excess sugar production to make ethanol for vehicle use. This program began in 1975 and was to use traditional fermentation to make fuel.Fermentation is the best known make by which various microbes break down sugars to make ethanol. While on that point a wide range of yeasts and bacteria that can make alcohol, the hateful substrate remains essentially the same. It requires either glucose or sucrose for the biologic pathways to function. This is arguably the earliest biotechnological process in the world and has been used for fuel, uptake and feedstocks for cent... ...ion of cellulose can be utilized to make substrate for fermentation, a engine room that Brazil has invested in recently to make better use of its hempen wastes from cane and other crops.Brazil has taken bold steps to liberty in the last three decades and has been a model often pointed to by the alternative energy community. I believe that they have plotted a courageous course and will be in the position to encourage the fruits of their labors soon. Perhaps they can lead the rest of us by example.ReferencesAssessing the tinge of the Green Revolution, 1960-2000 Evenson, R.A. and Gollin D. May 2003, Science, vol.3Brazilian Biomass Processing Meetings (1998/99) www.ieabioenergy.com/library/66_ieanews2.htmlIEA Task 26 Biotechnology for the Conversion of Lignocellulosics to Ethanol, No 2 May 1998 www.ieabioenergy.com/library/66_ieanews2.html