Ethanol Sharing in the World
As early as 1975, while Americans were enjoying gas wars and relaxed mortgage rates, Brazil was looking for a way to secure their future in the energy sector. All of their hard work and study has paid off, making them the leading country in the world to produce, use and export ethanol. To date, the five largest ethanol- producing countries are Brazil, the United States, China, India and France. It is expected for the USA to take the lead in a few short years if not overcome with government hypocrisy.
Where the United States is always riddled with political, economic and technical obstacles, other countries strive to move ahead to become self- sufficient and productive in the world market. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil, has declared that his country will overcome competition and become the world's leader in renewable energy. Already about a third of the vehicles in Brazil contain at least 26 percent ethanol compared to 3 percent in the United States that are running on lower levels of ethanol. Besides this fact, Brazilians are also given the option of running on pure ethanol, or E100, more than half the price of a blend.
Many other countries are now jumping on the bandwagon, since most of the bugs' have been worked out of the refining and processing methods. Experimental phases of any new product take money; money that a lot of under industrialized countries just did not have. Thailand, the Philippines, Columbia, the Dominican Republic and Malawi are all now producing crops that are used and sold for fuel. Companies such as US agribusiness giant Cargill Inc., the third-largest US ethanol refiner are footing the bill for processing. Last year they announced plans for refining Brazilian ethanol in El Salvador and exporting to the United States. One large factor in these countries' favor is their warm weather year round, perfect for sugar cane and naturally grown grasses. Corn is expensive to process, giving less industrious countries an opportunity to move ahead in the alternatives to oil and the costs associated with refining and storage.
Currently, the United States imposes a stiff penalty on ethanol imports, attempting to force the issue of home grown fuel but one has to wonder if America wouldn't be further ahead to open its borders to smaller countries that can grow and process sugarcane much cheaper than our corn. If and when our nation becomes overabundant in ethanol we will undoubtedly find that the import business swings both ways.
