Agricultural News
Growth Energy Calls Any Dependence on Brazilian Ethanol a Bad Move
Mon, 01 Feb 2010 10:46:12 CSTGrowth Energy has released the following statement, offering their opinion that it would be bad public policy to become dependent on foreign produced ethanol- in this case from Brazil.
Following news report that Brazil has failed to produce enough sugarcane to meet its own ethanol demand – forcing a rollback in that country’s ethanol blend from E25 to E20 – Growth Energy CEO released a statement questioning the wisdom of public policy that would make America dependent on Brazilian sugarcane ethanol.
“This is the perfect illustration of why it makes no sense to become dependent on any foreign source of energy – whether it’s Middle East oil or Brazilian sugarcane ethanol. Between high sugar prices and a sugarcane crop shortage, Brazil can’t meet its own ethanol needs – let alone the ethanol needs of the United States,” Buis said.
“Yet time and time again we hear from critics of American ethanol that Brazilian ethanol is the solution. We see it in California, where the state’s Air Resources Board fixed a Low Carbon Fuel Standard that blocks domestic ethanol but opens the state’s doors to Brazilian ethanol. We hear it from those who want to dismantle the tariff on Brazilian ethanol – a move which would cost more than 160,000 jobs to this country,” Buis said.
“And there are those who want to erect new regulatory obstacles with “international indirect land use change” penalties on domestic ethanol, while completely ignoring the carbon implications of encouraging Brazilian sugarcane producers to plant, process and then ship their ethanol halfway across the globe. We can produce more than enough ethanol in this country using domestic feedstock, and we should. It makes no sense to replace our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on foreign ethanol, especially if it forces job losses and would drive up prices if Brazil has another sugarcane crop shortage.”
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