Brazilian Sugarcane Based Biofuel Industry Set to Get Sweeter

Brazil is renowned for many things, from its sun kissed beaches and raucous Carnival festival to its towering mountains and vivid culture. Biofuel on the other hand has never been in the spotlight… Until now! Over the past two decades the sleep town of Sertaozinho has transformed into a global biofuel powerhouse, and it’s all thanks to sugarcane.

While the sprawling green fields were originally used to provide sugar to sweet toothed consumers across the globe, the produce has since become more valuable as a fuel. This eco-friendly trend saw Sertaozinho explode into a sugarcane based ethanol producing hub specialising in everything from planting and harvesting to processing in sophisticated biofuel power plants. The growth was so extreme that the town is no longer able to fill jobs with the local population.

A not so sweet period

Yet despite the town’s prosperity the petrol price plummet has seen Sertaozinho plunge into a financial crisis. Many of the biofuel factories are now closed and a large portion of the local population is out of work.  

However Brazil has a contingency plan in the works. The country is famous for pioneering one of the most advanced green transport programmes on the planet, as well as boasting the world’s largest flex-fuel car fleet. Over the past 10 years the ‘green’ transport economy has adopted sugarcane ethanol as a key energy source. The eco-friendly liquid can be purchased in gas stations across Brazil and while prices aren’t quite as cheap as petrol, they’re still relatively competitive.

Petrol, politics and sugar

The government has played an integral role in marketing sugarcane ethanol as a sustainable alternative to conventional fuel. Legislators recently made it mandatory for petrol mixes to consist of 27.5% ethanol, while a fossil fuel tax was also introduced. Petrol subsidies have been abolished which has helped boost ethanol sales across the nation. Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva referred to the strategic drive as an "ethanol diplomacy" that would save the country from the backlash of the petrol price plummet.

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