Brazil

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Brazil
Population: 188,078,227[1]
GDP (PPP): $1.616 tril. (2006 est.)[1]
Petroleum
– consumption
– imports:
– Gasoline to diesel ratio:
2.194 mil. bbl/day (2005 est.)[1]
572,600 bbl/day (2001)[1]

53.9% diesel, 26.2% gas, 17% ethanol (by volume) (2006) [2]

Electricity
– consumption
– Main sources:
391.7 billion kWh (2004)[1]
82% hydro, 5% gas, 3% biomass, 3% oil, 3% nuclear, 2% coal[3]
Renewable energy targets: 3.3 GW added by 2016 from wind, biomass, small hydro[4]
Ethanol
– production:
– target:
– feedstocks:
4,227 mil. gal/yr (2005)[5]
20-25% blending mandate[6]
sugarcane
Biodiesel
– production:
– target
– feedstocks:
343 mil. gallons/yr[7]
5% biodiesel in 2010[7]
soybeans, castor beans, sunflower

Brazil is the world's second largest producer and largest exporter of ethanol. Sugar cane is the main feedstock for ethanol production. The use of ethanol fuel reached a 50% market share of the gasoline-powered fleet early in 2008[8][9] thanks to the mandatory blend of 20 to 25 percent anhydrous ethanol in all gasoline sold in the country since 1993,[10] and a fleet of more than six million flexible-fuel light vehicles that run on any blend of E25 gasoline and E100 hydrous ethanol.[11] However, Brazil uses more diesel than gasoline and biodiesel production is still small, although growing rapidly. Other forms of bioenergy remain a relatively small proportion of Brazil's energy mix, although many ethanol plants are powered by burning sugar cane bagasse to generate electricity.[12]

Contents

Events

2009

International net loss and net gain in 'forest' by country for the period 1990-2005 (modified from the World Resources Institute)

2008

2007

International cooperation

Policy

  • National Program of Biodiesel Production and Use.
    • Social Fuel Stamp - This program attempts to deal with the question of social sustainability of biofuels by providing tax incentives for biodiesel producers to purchase feedstocks from small family farms in poorer regions of the country.
      • To receive the stamp producers must agree to:
        • "To purchase minimum percentages of raw materials from family farmers, 10% from regions North and Mid-West; 30% from the South and Southeast and 50% from the Northeast and the Semi-Arid Region; and
        • "To enter into contracts with family farmers establishing deadlines and conditions of delivery of the raw material and the respective prices, and to provide them with technical assistance."[13]

News

2010

Cattle on a 'semi-intensification' model ranch in Acre state in the Brazilian Amazon.

2009

  • CLIMATE CHANGE: Brazil Defends Biofuels, 9 December 2009 by IPS/TerraViva: "Being the world’s largest producer and exporter of ethanol it is natural for the Brazilian government and its partners to push biofuels as the only real alternative for a world trying wean itself away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming."
    • "Brazilian authorities were ready with their arguments at the United Nations climate change summit"...."at pains to show that not only is biofuel production the best way to reduce greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions but can also combat poverty as exemplified by the country’s scheme to promote micro-distilleries to provide additional income for rural families."
    • "While admitting that "biofuels are no silver bullet," Brazilian authorities insist that biofuels are the best way forward for developing countries."[2]
  • The pros and cons of biofuels: Ethanol tanks , 22 October 2009 by The Economist: "A report commissioned by the United Nations" found that:
    • Ethanol from sugar cane, which Brazil produces, "in some circumstances does better than just 'zero emission'. If grown and processed correctly, it has 'negative emission' — pulling CO2 out of the atmosphere, rather than adding it. America’s use of maize for biofuel is less efficient. Properly planted and processed, it does cut emissions; done poorly, it is more polluting than petrol."
    • However, "two papers published in Science...provide further reasons for caution." One, by Jerry Melillo, "suggests that the knock-on effects of growing biofuel crops, in terms of displaced food crops and extra fertiliser (an important source of a greenhouse gas called nitrous oxide), make the whole enterprise risky. The other", by Tim Searchinger, "points out a dangerous inconsistency in the way the Earth’s carbon balance-sheet is drawn up for the purposes of international law."[3]
  • Giants in Cattle Industry Agree to Help Fight Deforestation, 6 October 2009 by The New York Times: "At a conference...organized by Greenpeace, the four cattle companies — Bertin, JBS-Friboi, Marfrig and Minerva — agreed to support Greenpeace’s call for an end to the deforestation."
    • "Blairo Maggi, the governor of Mato Grosso, the Brazilian state with the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon and the country’s largest cattle herd, said Monday that he would support efforts to protect the Amazon and provide high-resolution satellite imagery to help monitor the region."
    • "Conspicuously missing from Monday’s announcement was the government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil. The government is struggling to reconcile its social and development goals in the Amazon with its desire to be a major player in global climate change talks."
  • Unilever starts tea origin certification program in Brazil, 01 October 2009 by FoodBizDaily: "World demand for tea is growing at a faster pace than its supply this year. But consumers, particularly in Europe, United States and Japan want to make sure that by drinking their cup of tea they are not helping to destroy the environment or encouraging the use of slave labor. This situation has led Unilever, world’s largest tea company, to certify the origin and production of its tea in countries such as Kenya and Argentina. It is a process that begins to be deployed in Brazil."
    • "Teramoto states that if Brazilian producers adopt Imaflora recommendations - a package that even includes the commitment to preserve an area of the original forest - certifications may be granted in the first quarter of 2010. With the Sustainable Agriculture Certification seal in hand, producers, which export 90% to the United States, Canada, England and Chile, may charge a higher price of Unilever, which accounts for 80% of Brazilian black tea exports."
  • JBS agrees to protect Amazon forest 28 September 2009 by Northern Colorado Business Report: JBS, the world's largest beef company, "has agreed to make a commitment to Greenpeace to not buy products from protected areas in the Amazon region"...claims it will "abide by practices that 'eliminate deforestation' in the Amazon biome." [4]
  • UN's Ban calls deforestation summit, 3 September 2009 by AFP: "UN chief Ban Ki-moon said Thursday he planned to bring together leaders of the world's most forested nations, including Brazil and Indonesia, for a meeting this month to discuss deforestation" on 22 September.
    • "The UN Environment Programme recently underlined that since trees and plants absorb carbon dioxide (CO2), stemming deforestation could be a tried and tested method in tackling climate change instead of more ambitious carbon capture projects."
    • The proposed meeting in New York would coincide with the UN summit on climate change."[6]
  • Beef Producers in Amazon Declare Moratorium, 28 August 2009 by VOA News: "Major beef and leather producers in Brazil have agreed not to use cattle raised in recently deforested areas of the Amazon rainforest."
    • "The governor of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso has called on meat producers not to buy cattle raised on recently deforested lands in the Amazonian state. Now, two major beef producers in Brazil, Bertin and Marfrig, have announced they are joining the initiative. Shoe makers Nike and Timberland signed on earlier this month."
    • "The Brazilian government and independent third-party observers will enforce the moratorium using satellite photographs, aerial fly-overs, and site visits. The meat processors have agreed not to buy cattle from those responsible for newly deforested lands."
    • "Brazil is already using this system to monitor soybean production. The country is a major soy producer, and since 2006 a coalition representing soybean growers, processors, and civil society groups has been cooperating on a moratorium on soy from recently deforested Amazon land."[7]
  • BP Gives up on Jatropha for Biofuel, 17 July 2009 by the Wall Street Journal's blog Environmental Capital: "BP has indeed given up on jatropha, the shrub once touted as the great hope for biofuels, and walked away from its jatropha joint venture for less than $1 million."
    • "Speculation abounded this summer that BP was ready to jettison its participation in the project with British partner partner D1 Oils. The original plan called for the investment of $160 million to turn the jatropha tree into feedstock to make transportation fuel. Now, BP will turn its alternative-fuel efforts toward ethanol in Brazil and the U.S., as well as biobutanol."[9]
  • Brazilian miner Vale signs $500M palm oil deal in the Amazon, 25 June 2009 by Mongabay.com: "Vale, the world's largest miner of iron ore, has signed a $500 million joint venture with Biopalma da Amazonia to produce 160,000 metric tons of palm oil-based biodiesel per year....The biodiesel will be produced from oil palm plantations in the Amazon state of Pará."
    • "environmentalists...fear palm oil production could soon become a major driver of deforestation in the region. Cultivation of oil palm is a leading cause of forest loss across Southeast Asia, but has yet to be widely planted in the Brazilian Amazon, where deforestation is mostly driven directly by conversion for cattle pasture expansion and indirectly by expansion of industrial agriculture, including soy."
  • Deforestation and carbon credits: Seeing REDD in the Amazon, 11 June 2009 by The Economist: "Saving rainforests needs both property rights and payment."
    • "A law approved this month by Brazil's Congress...would grant title to all landholdings up to 1,500 hectares (3,700 acres) occupied before 2005 in the Amazon, comprising an area the size of France, and ban further land claims. The law entrenches injustice: it risks rewarding people who used violence to obtain land, including large land holders who occupy almost 90% of the area under discussion."
    • "As with other forms of carbon credit, today's voluntary and experimental REDD schemes will need to be replaced by more rigorously accredited and monitored schemes. But they have a chance of working only if the countries in which they operate define forest land rights clearly. Brazil's flawed attempt to do this is a step forward."
  • Slaughtering the Amazon (link to PDF), 01 June 2009 by Greenpeace: "The cattle sector in the Brazilian Amazon is the largest driver of deforestation in the world, responsible for one in every eight hectares destroyed globally."
    • "The cattle sector in the Brazilian Amazon is responsible for 14% of the world's annual deforestation."
    • "The Brazilian Amazon has the greatest annual average deforestation by area of anywhere in the world....According to the Brazilian government: 'Cattle are responsible for about 80% of all deforestation' in the Amazon region. In recent years, on average one hectare of Amazon rainforest has been lost to cattle ranchers every 18 seconds."
    • "The Amazon is estimated to store 80-120 billion tonnes of carbon. If destroyed, some fifty times the annual GHG emissions of the USA could be emitted." [10]
  • Brazil Can Protect Amazon as Crop Output Expands, Unger Says, 15 April 2009 by Bloomberg News: "Brazil can protect its Amazon rainforest and boost agricultural output by planting crops in areas now used for low-intensity ranching, Minister of Strategic Affairs Roberto Mangabeira Unger said."
    • "Brazil, the world's second-biggest soybean grower, yesterday renewed a ban on sales of the oilseed planted illegally in the Amazon rainforest."
    • "Brazil is also the world's biggest beef exporter and the biggest coffee and sugar-cane grower."[12]
  • Brazil soy growers fear green backlash, plant trees, 17 March 2009 by Reuters: "Soybean farmer Clovis Cortezia has started replanting native rainforest trees on his farm to meet demands of international buyers keen to be environmentally responsible."
    • "Like other growers in Brazil's No. 1 soy-producing state Mato Grosso, Cortezia started replanting trees native to Brazil's center-west savanna in 2007".
    • "Environmental and consumer groups, particularly in Europe, have long complained that rapid expansion of Brazil's soy frontier was speeding up the deforestation of the Amazon."
    • "Cortezia's restoration program is typical of simlar efforts launched by growers to meet 'green requirements' ranging from soil conservation to proper agrochemicals use."
    • "Cortezia is part of the a program organized by the local government in a partnership with U.S. environment group The Nature Conservancy (TNC)."[13]
  • Brazil wants help lifting US ethanol tariffs, 17 March 2009 by the International Herald Tribune: "Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday implored American businessmen to help convince the United States to lift the 53-cent-per-gallon import tariff it places on his country's ethanol fuel."
    • Silva, "who met with President Barack Obama on Saturday, has made little progress persuading the U.S. to reduce the tariffs, which are in place to protect American farmers who make ethanol from corn. Brazil makes ethanol from sugar, in a process that is much more efficient and costs less."[14]
  • Petrobras plans US$2.8 billion investment in biofuels, 4 March 2009 by Energy Current: "Petrobras Biocombustível plans to invest around US$2.4 billion in biodiesel and ethanol production over 2009 to 2013, 91 percent of which will be made in Brazil."
    • "One of the company's goals is to reach production of 640 million liters of biodiesel in Brazil by 2012. To achieve this goal, Petrobras plans to build a new plant in northern Brazil, duplicate its Candeias plant in the state of Bahia, and adapts its experimental plants in Guamaré, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, for commercial production."[15]

2008

  • Biofuel producers warn EU over "unjustifiably complex" sustainability rules, 7 November 2008 by BusinessGreen: "Eight developing countries have written to the EU warning they will complain to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) if it passes proposed legislation designed to improve the environmental sustainability of biofuels by restricting the types of fuels the bloc imports."
    • "The EU is considering legislation that is intended to ban the purchase of biofuels from energy crop plantations that are believed to harm the environment and lead to food shortages by displacing land used for food crops and contributing to rainforest deforestation."
    • "[E]ight countries - Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Indonesia and Malaysia - have written to the EU to protest against the proposals" in a letter that "claims that the new rules would 'impose unjustifiably complex requirements on producers' and argues that environmental criteria 'relating to land-use change will impinge disproportionately on developing countries'."[16]
  • EU biofuel panic threatens planet - Brazil envoy, 19 September 2008 by Reuters/Business Feed: "Europe's heated debate over biofuels risks weakening one of the world's best tools to fight climate change and one of the developing world's best hopes for economic growth, Brazil's ambassador to the EU said on Friday."
    • "'What I fear is the debate over biofuels has taken on a very emotional character and we have somewhere got lost in this emotion,'" said Maria Celina de Azevedo Rodrigues."
    • The "huge potential market for biofuels is coveted by exporters such as Brazil, Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as European farming nations. But the European Parliament last week agreed a 6 percent limit for fuels from foods such as Brazilian sugar."[17]
  • IDB launches interactive Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard 9 September 2008 press release by the IADB. The Inter-American Development Bank released an interactive tool known as the Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard on September 9th, during the 4th Annual Western Hemisphere Energy Security and Cooperation Forum, held at IDB's headquarters in Washington DC. and as part of a comprehensive effort to ensure that biofuel investments produce social, economic and environmental benefits. The Scorecard addresses 23 key environmental and social issues such as food security, greenhouse gas emissions, water management, land use change, biodiversity or poverty reduction. The IDB is inviting comments and suggestions regarding the Scorecard, which is available atwww.iadb.org/secci, during a six month public consultation period that will end in March 2009.
  • Small farmers to join Brazil sustainable cane move, 1 September 2008, by Reuters: "Dozens of small and medium-scale farmers in Brazil's Sao Paulo state will grow sugar cane certified as meeting strict social and environmental standards, the region's cane producers association said late on Thursday."
    • Sugarcane suppliers joining the program "must refuse the use of child or slave labor, limit their use of agrochemicals, and gather their cane with mechanical harvesters as opposed to cutting it manually. Manual cutting involves burning the plant's foliage, which pollutes the air."
    • "Production standards, which will come into force on August 30, were set by Organizacao Internacional Agropecuaria (OIA), a private company which provides inspection and certification services."[18]
  • Prsident Lula promises aid to Costa Rica to produce biofuels, La Nación, [19], July 31 2008. Brazil's President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, promised technical and technological support for Costa Rica to produce biofuels. Lula da Silva said that Costa Rica has the conditions to lead a "biofuel revolution in Central America." He also emphasized the country's environmental sustainability and long tradition with sugar cane crops. Lula da Silva confirmed his visit to Costa Rica early next year. The presidents signed in Brasilia 10 agreements of technical cooperation offered by Brazil since 1997, among others, the agreement to provide Brazilian assistance in biofuel production.
  • Biofuels major driver of food price rise - World Bank 28 July 2008, Reuters. A World Bank policy research working paper released today says that biofuels have raised food prices between 70 to 75 percent. The study found that higher oil prices and a weak dollar explain 25-30% of total price rise. The "month-by-month" five year analysis disputes that increases in global grain consumption and droughts were responsible for price increases, reporting that this had had only a marginal impact and instead argues that the EU and US drive for biofuels has had by far the biggest impact on food supply and prices. The paper concludes that increased production of biofuels in the US and EU were supported by subsidies and tariffs on imports, and considers that without these policies, price increases would have been smaller. This research also concluded that Brazil's sugar cane based ethanol has not raised sugar prices significantly, and suggest to remove tariffs on ethanol imports by both the US and EU, to allow more efficient producers such as Brazil and other developing countries to produce ethanol profitably for export to meet the mandates in the UE and the US. Access the full report here,
  • IDB lends $269 million for three Brazilian ethanol plants 23 July 2008 press release by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) regarding the Board's approval of the loan today: 'At a time of soaring food and energy prices, it is crucial to develop renewable fuels that don't compete with food crops,' said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. 'After examining the social, environmental and economic dimensions of these projects for more than a year, we concluded that they will produce clean and sustainable energy and provide quality jobs - without impacting food prices in any way."
  • Biofuels Battle: Tear Down The Brazilian Wall, 1 July 2008 in the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog: "Biofuels have few friends lately. But Brazil's biofuel industry found a big one -- U.S. Senator Richard Lugar."
    • "Sen. Lugar thinks Brazilian ethanol -- made from sugarcane rather than corn -- could help lower U.S. gasoline prices, which have reached record levels. Unica, not surprisingly, thinks the same, and blames Washington's $0.54 per gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol for American pain at the pump."
  • Another Inconvenient Truth: Biofuels are not the answer to climate or fuel crisis, 26 June 2008. A report released by Oxfam today criticized biofuel policies of rich countries and concluded that from all biofuels available in the market, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol is "far from perfect" but it is the most favorable biofuel in the world in term of cost and GHG balance. The report discusses some existing problems and potential risks, and asks the Brazilian government for caution to avoid jeopardazing its environmental and social sustainability. The report also says that: Rich countries spent up to $15 billion last year supporting biofuels while blocking cheaper Brazilian ethanol, which is far less damaging for global food security. Access full the report here.
  • Amazon Deforestation Surging Again, 18th January 2008. According to Reuters, "Deforestation of the Amazon has surged in recent months and is likely to rise in 2008 for the first time in four years, a senior Brazilian government scientist said on Wednesday."
  • "Corn... fuel... fire! U.S. corn subsidies promote Amazon deforestation", 8 January 2008 press release from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute: According to STRI researcher William Laurance, "Amazon deforestation and fires are being aggravated by US farm subsidies...that promote American corn production for ethanol." Corn subsidies also result in farmers reducing production of soy -- thus increasing global soy prices, which in turn promotes burning of forests in the Brazilian Amazon in order to clear land for soy cultivation.
    • According to Laurance, "The evidence of a corn connection to the Amazon is circumstantial, but it's about as close as you ever get to a smoking gun."[22]
  • Brazil case accents need for new biofuels rules. Brazil is preparing to finally take their case against US ethanol tariffs before the WTO. It is expected that regardless of the results of the case, the WTO will be prompted to develop new rules for the regulation of biofuels.

2007

  • U.S., Brazil plan ethanol partnership 2 March 2007 by USA Today, reports that an international partnership to promote trade in ethanol is to be launched during U.S. President Bush's visit to Brazil next week. The article reports that the "USA and Brazil produce more than 70% of the world's ethanol" and that the partnership will promote "research to make ethanol production more efficient" and work to create "a global market."

2006

Organizations

International organizations

  • International Biofuels Forum - Brazil is a founding member of this group, which is working to develop standards for biofuels and facilitate their development as an international commodity.

Governmental organizations

  • Ministry of Science and Technology

Nongovernmental organizations

  • Brazilian Forum of Non-governmental Organizations and Social Movements (FBOMS)
    • FBOMS issued the report "Sustainability Criteria and Indicators for Bioenergy," February, 2006.
  • Federation of Rural Workers of Brazil
  • Rede Social

Industry organizations

Labor organizations

  • Central Union of Workers (CUT)
  • Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST)

Academic organizations

  • University of Campinas (São Paulo)

Publications

See books, reports, scientific papers, position papers and websites for additional useful resources.

  • Sustainability of Brazilian Bioethanol (PDF)by Edward Smeets, Martin Junginger, André Faaij (Utrecht University); Arnaldo Walter, Paulo Dolzan (State University of Campinas); commissioned by SenterNovem, The Netherlands Agency for Sustainable Development and Innovation, August 2006.
    • This is a very comprehensive assessment of the Brazilian ethanol industry, including all the social and environmental impacts.

Websites

Blogs

  • Ethablog - "The only blog in English dedicated to Brazilian ethanol"

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/br.html
  2. ↑ http://www.hubbertpeak.com/BR/
  3. ↑ http://www.iea.org/Textbase/stats/electricitydata.asp?COUNTRY_CODE=BR
  4. ↑ REN21 Renewables Global Status Report 2005 p. 20.
  5. ↑ http://www.ethanolrfa.org/industry/statistics/
  6. ↑ The Emerging Biofuels Market: Regulatory, Trade and Development Implications (PDF File) prepared by Simonetta Zarrilli; UNCTAD, 2006, p. 20-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 http://biopact.com/2007/02/brazil-increases-biodiesel-target-to-5.html
  8. ↑ Consumo de álcool supera o de gasolina pela primeira vez em 20 anos (Portuguese)
  9. ↑ ANP: consumo de álcool combustível é 50% maior em 2007 (Portuguese)
  10. ↑ Lei de 28 de Outubro de 1993. (Portuguese) Since July 2007 the mandatory blend is E25
  11. ↑ Veículos flex somam 6 milhões e alcançam 23% da frota (Portuguese)
  12. ↑ Ethanol fuel in Brazil at Wikipedia
  13. ↑ National Program on Biodiesel Production and Use Pamphlet (English)


Brazil edit

Events | Issues | News | Policies | Publications | Organizations (Companies) || Social Fuel Stamp
Deforestation - causes: Cattle ranching | Logging | Soy farming
Events: Biofuels as a driving force of sustainable development (2008)
International Workshop on Solutions to Deforestation and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Caused by Cattle Expansion (2009)

Latin America and the Caribbean edit

Regional institutions: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB Biofuels Sustainability Scorecard) | International Ethanol Commission
Caribbean Basin Initiative | Southern Agricultural Council
Organizations: LAC-CORE
Countries - Caribbean: Antigua & Barbuda | Aruba | Bahamas | Barbados | Cayman Islands | Cuba | Dominica | Dominican Republic | Grenada | Guadeloupe | Haiti | Jamaica | Martinique | Puerto Rico | St. Kitts and Nevis | St. Lucia | St. Vincent and the Grenadines | Trinidad & Tobago | Turks & Caicos Islands | Virgin Islands
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See also: International cooperation | International organizations


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