SugarcaneBlog

The Brazilians put together a nifty video of average Americans complaining about the ethanol tariff.

This is a decen description of the latest "research" on biofuels impact. It's amazing how they can simplify the word in a whiteboard...

While Coskata talks about various feedstocks, I betcha they will ultimately rely on sugarcane bagasse because its cheap and abundant.

This is a video from the corn ethanol lobby, RFA, on the indirect effects of oil production and use. It's quite impressive and shows that regulators may well be biased against ethanol.

The New York Times Elisabeth Rosenthal tells of the efforts to reduce deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon by paying landowners to preserve forests. Worth a read as it talks about how Brazil is trying to balance development and conservation, a key issue for biofuels producers.

Deforestation, a critical contributor to climate change, effectively accounts for 20 percent of the worlds carbon dioxide emissions and 70 percent of the emissions in Brazil. Halting new deforestation, experts say, is as powerful a

With sugar production down sharply and demand fairly steady, India could have to import as much as one-third of all the sweet stuff it uses.

Last night on the comedy show "Colbert Report," got news of the supposedly sugar shortage. Stephen Colbert screamed, poured sugar on himself, declared sugar "Jesus' dandruff" and then invited Food Politics author Dr. Marion Nestle on to confirm his worst fears.

The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association, known as UNICA, launched a campaign July 4, 2008, targeting U.S. Independence Day travelers to encourage Congress to revisit the 54-cent-per-gallon ethanol import tariff.

The “Are We There Yet?” campaign calls on the American public should convince the U.S. Congress to reduce the tariff in order to reduce the cost of gasoline. “Americans are being denied an opportunity to save money at the pump,” said Joel Velasco, chief representative for UNICA. “El

In this presentation at the Ethanol Summit in Brazil in June 2009, the automakers association of Brazil tells how they are continuing to improve on flex-fuel technology there. Why the rest of the world doesn't follow them, I dunno.

Friday's PBS Nightly Business Report did a segment on the problems faced by the corn ethanol industry. Not sure PBS disclosed that the program received funding from ExxonMobil...

Nightly Business Report for Friday, July 17, 2009
TRANSCRIPT

SUSIE GHARIB: Paul, not long ago, ethanol was considered the miracle cure for the nation`s energy problems. Companies were booming thanks to easy money and a government mandate to blend ethanol into the nation`s gasoline supply. But now many firms are scrambling just t

Global in scope and comprised of six 30-minute chapters filmed in HD, e² energy features the engineers, policymakers and innovations that are transforming energy availability and consumption. Each episode covers viable policy and technology alternatives to the fossil fuel culture.This episodes explores sugarcane ethanol in Brazil and its future in the United States. The production of ethanol and other biofuels requires many of the same resources - such as arable land - as the production of food. As the bio

So Exxon announced a $600 million investment in algae biofuels today. The company reported profits over $45 billion last year, and this investment will be spread out over 5 or 6 years. Furthermore, half of it will go for in house research. So it's safe to say that this one annoucement may just be greenwashing and certainly doesn't change Exxon's reputation as the most polluting company on earth.

Given that, why did Nathanael Greene tell CNBC's Power Lunch that it was a good type of investment for Exxon to

The discovery of potentially massive reserves of oil and gas off its coast in 2007 seems set to transform the country’s position as an energy superpower and the government says it plans to join Opec in the near future. However, Brazil already sources most of its electricity from hydroelectric dams and most cars in the country have the option to use ethanol as fuel, which can be sourced from sugar cane.

As a result, the Latin American giant appears to be perfectly set up to deal with the energy challenges

Brazilian sugar and ethanol producer Copersucar celebrated its 50th anniversary this week and outlined a bold plan to increase its market share in Brazil to 30% by 2018 with production of 200 million tons of sugarcane. If the Company achieved this objective, it would double Copersucar’s current market share in Brazil.

Copersucar has 34 associated mills in the state of São Paulo, Paraná and Minas Gerais in Brazil. The company is the leading sugar and ethanol producer and distributor and one of the world

The public radio program, The World, produced by the BBC and others, put out a segment suggesting the debate is heating up in Europe and the United States over the benefits, real or imagined, of increased biofuel production. It's worth a listen, unfortunately.

After months of negotiations, the Democratic-controlled House has narrowly passed sweeping legislation calling for the nation's first-ever limits on pollution linked to global warming. Stephen Power explains the bill's implications.

In this 2008 television advertisement, the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) inserts a little humor in the discussions about bioufels and their contribution to climate change.

This morning on C-SPAN, the CEO of Anadarko, James Hackett, spoke on U.S. energy and climate change policy. He blasted corn ethanol as a "disaster" and called for the end of the 54 cent per gallon tariff on clearner, more efficient sugarcane ethanol from Brazil. The excerpted video is here and the full video on C-SPAN's website.