Is Europe's thirst for ethanol a threat to the rainforest?
Ethanol is one among several alternatives for future automobile fuel. It can be made from a variety of biomasses, but one of the most efficient is to make it from sugar cane.
Brazil is a pioneer in making ethanol from sugar cane. More than 400 small or bigger ethanol processing units are now working throughout Brazil. Sugar cane is grown mostly around and north of Sao Paulo, but also in other regions in Brazil.
In Europe, making of ethanol is also possible from sugar beet, wheat, corn or other crops, or even from wood chips. However it is rather expensive to use these methods, and often more energy is actually consumed than what you get as the end product in form of ethanol.
This has made the import of ethanol from Brazil feasible despite the great distance. In Sweden for example, a country that has done a lot on encouraging motorists to use biofuels, Brazil stands now for a large share of the ethanol used for transportation. 100 % of the ethanol used in Sweden for city buses (many buses in big cities are powered on ethanol) and almost 100 % of the ethanol blend E85 sold is imported from Brazil.
Only the ethanol mixed at 5% in all gasoline is produced domestically or in other EU countries from grain, corn or grapes thanks to a levy on the import of pure ethanol for vehicle fuel from countries outside EU introduced all over EU. But E85 is exempted as well as ethanol bus fuel, so that is the reason that those fuels are imported from Brazil. The production cost for ethanol for vehicles within the EU is about 4 dollars per gallon versus less than 2 dollars for the ethanol imported from Brazil.
However, the production of increased amounts of ethanol may be a threat to existing rainforests in Brazil. The Amazon rain forest is shrinking yearly with an area large as the state of Maryland. This is due to logging activities, many in preparation for the expansion of plantations in the area. The climate in the Amazon basin is presently a little bit too humid for sugarcane plantations, but the devastation of the rainforest is making the climate dryer.
Only a small fraction of Brazilian sugar cane plantations are presently in the provinces in the Amazon basin, but other rainforests are under real threat from expansion of sugarcane plantations. This is particularly true for the Atlantic rainforest, covering the area north of Sao Paulo, which already is depleted by 93%, and only 7% remains.
So it is without doubt that there exists a real threat to remaining rainforests in Brazil if Europe (and possibly also the US) starts to import vast amounts of ethanol from Brazil.
Another issue is the burning of sugarcane fields in Brazil before harvest. This creates enormous smoke clouds that can easily be seen on satellite images. A few of the most modern Brazilian plantations however use modern harvesting equipment which eliminates the need for open burning of the sugarcane fields.
This should be kept in mind when choosing future fuel alternatives for automobiles. The present situation makes it necessary to uphold the levy on imports of ethanol for vehicle use in order to promote domestic alternatives in Europe and the US and to make other alternatives (like hybrids, hydrogen fuel, electric) more competetive.
Bo Persson
Brazil is a pioneer in making ethanol from sugar cane. More than 400 small or bigger ethanol processing units are now working throughout Brazil. Sugar cane is grown mostly around and north of Sao Paulo, but also in other regions in Brazil.
In Europe, making of ethanol is also possible from sugar beet, wheat, corn or other crops, or even from wood chips. However it is rather expensive to use these methods, and often more energy is actually consumed than what you get as the end product in form of ethanol.
This has made the import of ethanol from Brazil feasible despite the great distance. In Sweden for example, a country that has done a lot on encouraging motorists to use biofuels, Brazil stands now for a large share of the ethanol used for transportation. 100 % of the ethanol used in Sweden for city buses (many buses in big cities are powered on ethanol) and almost 100 % of the ethanol blend E85 sold is imported from Brazil.
Only the ethanol mixed at 5% in all gasoline is produced domestically or in other EU countries from grain, corn or grapes thanks to a levy on the import of pure ethanol for vehicle fuel from countries outside EU introduced all over EU. But E85 is exempted as well as ethanol bus fuel, so that is the reason that those fuels are imported from Brazil. The production cost for ethanol for vehicles within the EU is about 4 dollars per gallon versus less than 2 dollars for the ethanol imported from Brazil.
However, the production of increased amounts of ethanol may be a threat to existing rainforests in Brazil. The Amazon rain forest is shrinking yearly with an area large as the state of Maryland. This is due to logging activities, many in preparation for the expansion of plantations in the area. The climate in the Amazon basin is presently a little bit too humid for sugarcane plantations, but the devastation of the rainforest is making the climate dryer.
Only a small fraction of Brazilian sugar cane plantations are presently in the provinces in the Amazon basin, but other rainforests are under real threat from expansion of sugarcane plantations. This is particularly true for the Atlantic rainforest, covering the area north of Sao Paulo, which already is depleted by 93%, and only 7% remains.
So it is without doubt that there exists a real threat to remaining rainforests in Brazil if Europe (and possibly also the US) starts to import vast amounts of ethanol from Brazil.
Another issue is the burning of sugarcane fields in Brazil before harvest. This creates enormous smoke clouds that can easily be seen on satellite images. A few of the most modern Brazilian plantations however use modern harvesting equipment which eliminates the need for open burning of the sugarcane fields.
This should be kept in mind when choosing future fuel alternatives for automobiles. The present situation makes it necessary to uphold the levy on imports of ethanol for vehicle use in order to promote domestic alternatives in Europe and the US and to make other alternatives (like hybrids, hydrogen fuel, electric) more competetive.
Bo Persson
posted by LH at
10:41 AM
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