If Brazil has been so successful with their alternative fuel program, why can't the US copy their proven?

Question

success story and save time in implementing our own?

Answer 1

Probably because the US does not have the same resources, nor does the US have the same motivation as Brazil.

You must realize that Brazil has been investing in ethanol production for almost 30 years now, and the program almost failed in the late 1980's when oil reached a price low point. Brazil has traditionally been a sugar producer, and surpluses of sugar led to seeking alternative markets. At one point in 1985 sugar was selling on world markets for 2.5 cents US per pound. The US has always had price supports on sugar preventing domestic producers from losing money, but for Brazil those low prices led to a crisis and the need for alternative uses for one of Brazil's largest crops.

Brazil is something like the Saudi Arabia of sugar. It began producing sugar in the 1500's. It now has three times the exports of sugar of its nearest rival. It is also the cheapest producer of sugar in the world, and can produce sugar at less than half of the cost of production in the US. This makes the production of Brazilian ethanol much cheaper than the production of US ethanol, even if US ethanol were made from sugar. Currently US ethanol is selling on the wholesale markets near $3 per gallon (June 06), while US unleaded gasoline wholesale prices are still just above $2 per gallon.

The Brazilian ethanol program is far from perfect by many standards. It relies on cheap labor (not available in the US), has produced environmental damage in growing areas (while at the same time cleaning up urban air) and relies on government subsidies to make it work. Sugar cane has been a significant cause of deforestation and destruction of the Brazilain rainforest, so while they may be saving us from the carbon input from fossil fuels, they may also be negatively affecting world climate.

Brazil has much stronger incentives to convert (at least in the past) since Brazil has found itself in desperate need of hard currency to pay off multi-billion dollar loans to the International Monetary Fund. The major oil company in Brazil is Petrobras, which is owned by the government. Because of this it is easy for Brazil to promote the use of ethanol by subsidizing both distillation plants and controlling prices. At one time the price of ethanol in Brazil was regulated to make it more competitive. Brazil has developed ethanol in order to become an oil exporting country and bring in those hard dollars from oil.

Brazil has such ideal geography and resources for sugar production that if not for US tariffs on Brazilain ethanol of 54 cents per gallon, much of the US ethanol industry would not be able to compete (even with the tax subsidies the US gives ethanol producers). The US has neither the government structure nor the natural resources to copy the Brazilians. Oil companies are private in the US (and oil royalties are the second largest source of Federal tax revenue behind the IRS). Land and labor are not as cheap in the US as in Brazil, nor do most areas in the US have the climate requirements for growing sugar cane.

The US will have to develop alternative methods of producing ethanol, or will have to adopt methanol instead. Some researchers have already reported that because of the US corn crops dependence on fertilizers made from fossil fuels and the amount of fossil fuels used to produce corn ethanol, that there is a net energy loss to ethanol production by current methods and no savings in fossil fuel consumption. The yield of ethanol per acre of production from sugar cane is roughly twice the yield from an acre of corn. Until a better method of utilizing corn (which is much starchier than sugar cane) or some other crop that is more suitable for the US is found, Brazil's success cannot be simply copied by the US. However, both India and China have the potential to copy the Brazilian program. The US will have to find an alternative solution, or begin importing ethanol, something the domestic agribusinesses oppose.

Of course there is one other 'little' problem with the US adaptation of ethanol. The US consumes 150 billion gallons of gasoline each year, while Brazilians only consume about the equivalent of 15 billion gallons of of gasoline. According to one source, the US *ALREADY* produces almost as much ethanol as Brazil, but the problem is we would have to reduce our fuel consumption by about 90% to emulate Brazil. See:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=1629

Answer 2

Alternative fuels require infrastructure that countries like Brazil have been willing to invest in and the US has not. This is partly due to the fact that the US has a very big infrastructure built around oil/petroleum so we don't feel the urgency to change it.

This is why many of the developing nations, especially in South America, are leap frogging the US in terms of not only renewable energy, but communications and transportation. They get to look at it from getting something they don't have. We in the US have to justify replacing something we've already invested a lot in with something that will cost even more.

Answer 3

To change the economic structure of this country would require a major effort on the part of the people. The problem is: The people who protested everything in the 60's and 70's are now running the companies which they would have protested then. They went from caring hippies and liberal protesters to hard-nosed executives and environmental destroyers. Go figure. Hope it doesn't happen to this generation. The oil companies are going to milk oil for every last drop. By then the atmosphere will be to thin to change anything. Hybrid cars haven't improved anything, they are still oil/gas based. Stupid people feel better about themselves though, and think they are helping with the problem. Kudos to them for making the effort, but don't be fooled. Some hybrids are built that way for extra power/speed! Getting off our collective butts and protesting and liberating this country is the only way to change it. Don't forget how this country started. Angry people overthrew the totalitarian government, and started their own country. They are turning in their graves I assure you!

Answer 4

The basic answer is cost and inefficiency. Brazil had no infrastructure so they built one. As long as petroleum is available and much cheaper you can't pay for the new infrastructure in the US. Also remember that Brazil is a fraction of our use, so even if we duplicated them, it wouldn't make a big difference. Lastly, remember to do what Brazil is doing, they are cutting down and planting the rainforest. Is it worth it?

Answer 5

Besides politics and money and industry...

Brazil makes ethanol from Sugar, which is about 8 times more efficient at turning into ethanol than corn. They also have different emissions laws, ethanol DOES have emissions, although a different profile than gasoline.

Answer 6

Because we didn't think of it. We are rather hostile for proven alternative fuel technologies that didn't arise in America

Answer 7

Too many people in power have massive amounts invested in fossil fuels and old energy companies.

Answer 8

The oil companies' lobbying powers. They had killed the electric car years ago.