Originally published January 6 2006
Brazil leads the world in ethanol production
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Regular unblended gasoline is no longer sold in Brazil, convincing evidence of the country's leadership in the development and production of ethanol fuel.
Since the 1973 oil embargo, Brazil has battled to achieve energy independence, replacing gasoline with ethanol, an alcohol distilled from sugarcane.
Today, Brazil is the world's largest producer of sugar and ethanol.
Brazilian cars are also equipped with engines that can run on ethanol and gasoline, or any blend of the two.
All the major Brazilian car manufacturers now make them, including Ford Motor (nyse: F - news - people) and General Motors (nyse: GM - news - people).
In Brazil ethanol, or "alcool" as it is called, costs only $2 at the pump, compared to $4 for a gasoline-ethanol blend (Brazil no longer sells regular unblended gasoline).
And while ethanol-powered cars consume 25% to 30% more fuel per mile than gasoline cars, the average motorist can save about $820 a year by switching to ethanol.
In September, Ford Motor announced it was stepping up its production of ethanol vehicles for the North American market.
"Ethanol is typically cheaper than regular gasoline, and we're going to do all that we can to support it," said President Bill Ford in a speech to employees in Dearborn, Mich.
Ford has since begun a prime time TV advertising campaign for its ethanol vehicles, noting that it plans to produce 250,000 ethanol vehicles next year, way ahead of its plans to produce 250,000 hybrid cars by 2010.
Unlike Brazil, U.S. producers make ethanol from corn, which is a far less efficient source, yielding four times less energy than sugar.
The U.S. currently produces about 3.8 billion gallons of ethanol, slightly less than Brazil.
Ethanol became the salvation for Midwest corn growers struggling to make ends meet with a saturated market and slumping prices.
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