Bio‐Ethanol Development(s) in Brazil

Growth of microalgae Scenedesmus sp in ethanol vinasse

“…The country is the second largest world producer of ethanol and is the only country where the biofuels compete with gasoline (Walter 2009). However, this high production provides a huge amount of waste throughout the years.…”

Nitrogen Use in Biofuel Production: A Case Study of U.S. Corn and Brazilian Sugarcane

“…Also, almost all of the top twenty varieties that comprise 80% of planted acres, as mentioned previously, have documented relationships with Nfixing bacteria (Walter, 2009;Boddey, 1995;Stephan et al, 1991). Thus, it is assumed, for simplicity and lack of evidence to the contrary, that all acres harvested for ethanol consist of sugarcane varieties capable of significant biological N-fixation; where this assumption leaves an opportunity to overestimate nitrogen introduced to the agroecoystem through BNF, it simultaneously underestimates the quantity of nitrogen introduced as fertilizer, since N application rates cited in the literature for Brazilian sugarcane consider some notable contribution from BNF.…”

“…Food shortages and food price increases in Brazil around 1985 were first blamed on the growth of the ethanol industry pushed by the government, but, retrospectively, years of agricultural policy emphasizing commodity export crops, unchecked inflation, deepening foreign debt, and adverse weather conditions seem to have been the primary causes of the price escalation and shortages of food (Rosillo-Calle and Hall, 1987). Thus, the largescale sugarcane production and expansion in Brazil have not been shown to affect food production and have not diverted land from other crops like corn and soybeans, which have respectively twice and three times as large an area than sugarcane (Walter, 2009). A doubling of ethanol production in Brazil would mean that cane sugar would still only account for an additional 3% of the available agricultural land, so ethanol production could be expanded without much consequence to food supplies, especially since most new sugarcane development occurs on pastoral lands (Walter, 2009).…”

“…Since this time, over 500 varieties of commercial sugarcane have been bred with the top twenty varieties occupying 80% of the planted land area in Brazil (Walter, 2009). Until the late 19 th century, botanists had not realized sugarcane produced seeds, but in 1887, the first seeds of S. officinarum were crossed with the wild species of cane, S. spontaneum (Baldini et al, 2002).…”

“…Thus, the largescale sugarcane production and expansion in Brazil have not been shown to affect food production and have not diverted land from other crops like corn and soybeans, which have respectively twice and three times as large an area than sugarcane (Walter, 2009). A doubling of ethanol production in Brazil would mean that cane sugar would still only account for an additional 3% of the available agricultural land, so ethanol production could be expanded without much consequence to food supplies, especially since most new sugarcane development occurs on pastoral lands (Walter, 2009). …”