Shell, Cargill Invests in Bio-Gasoline, Renewable Diesel Start up

After increasing their investment in cellulosic biofuel maker Iogen last week, Shell announced today it has taken an undisclosed equity stake in U.S. biotechnology company Virent Energy Systems Inc. to deepen cooperation on the production of biofuels. According to Virent news release, the start up “closed a $46.4 million third round of funding in which Shell and Cargill deepened their commitment to Virent’s breakthrough technology platform.”"This investment demonstrates Shell’s confidence in Virent’s catalytic biofuel production processes,” said Luis Scoffone, Vice President of Alternative Energies at Shell. “The expansion of our joint technology program to include research into the production of diesel from plant sugars offers considerable potential and complements Shell’s wider biofuels portfolio.” Shell and Virent have been conducting a joint research and development effort to make biogasoline from plant sugars since 2007 and late last year they started up a pilot plant. Biodiesel is typically made from vegetable oils.

Shell, Cargill Invests in Bio-Gasoline, Renewable Diesel Start up

After increasing their investment in cellulosic biofuel maker Iogen last week, Shell announced today it has taken an undisclosed equity stake in U.S. biotechnology company Virent Energy Systems Inc. to deepen cooperation on the production of biofuels. According to Virent news release, the start up “closed a $46.4 million third round of funding in which Shell and Cargill deepened their commitment to Virent’s breakthrough technology platform.”"This investment demonstrates Shell’s confidence in Virent’s catalytic biofuel production processes,” said Luis Scoffone, Vice President of Alternative Energies at Shell. “The expansion of our joint technology program to include research into the production of diesel from plant sugars offers considerable potential and complements Shell’s wider biofuels portfolio.” Shell and Virent have been conducting a joint research and development effort to make biogasoline from plant sugars since 2007 and late last year they started up a pilot plant. Biodiesel is typically made from vegetable oils.

Ethanol Industry Holds EPA’s “Feet To The Fire” On E-15

The ethanol industry is pressing the Obama Administration to decide next month whether to allow blending of up to 15 percent ethanol in conventional gasoline. The EPA already delayed once, by at least 6-months, a decision on Growth Energy’s E-15 waiver request. Now, with EPA’s mid-June timeframe for possible action rapidly approaching, Growth Energy’s Tom Buis is keeping the pressure on, “They had promised us by the middle of this year. We have not heard otherwise…so, we’re still hopeful that it will be sooner, rather than later.” EPA and DOE officials were not available to comment.
In a letter, the EPA told Buis earlier in the year that the Energy Department would not be finished with all vehicle E-15 testing “until August” but “there could be enough data by the end of May to act in June.” Buis says some 2 years of testing is enough, ”It is time. We’ve proven in our submission, that we can go to E-15 in our nation’s automobiles, without any damage to automobile engines…without any damage to emissions equipment.” EPA acknowledged in December that testing until then was encouraging, which Growth Energy took as favorable for E-15.

Buis argues more delay is unacceptable, “It’s another day that we don’t make strides in becoming less dependent on foreign oil…another day that we’re not creating jobs right here in America-jobs that can’t be outsourced.” Even if EPA approves E-15, the oil industry is expected to mount a court challenge to more competition from ethanol, possibly further delaying ethanol’s shift into “high gear.”

Ethanol Industry Holds EPA’s “Feet To The Fire” On E-15

The ethanol industry is pressing the Obama Administration to decide next month whether to allow blending of up to 15 percent ethanol in conventional gasoline. The EPA already delayed once, by at least 6-months, a decision on Growth Energy’s E-15 waiver request. Now, with EPA’s mid-June timeframe for possible action rapidly approaching, Growth Energy’s Tom Buis is keeping the pressure on, “They had promised us by the middle of this year. We have not heard otherwise…so, we’re still hopeful that it will be sooner, rather than later.” EPA and DOE officials were not available to comment.
In a letter, the EPA told Buis earlier in the year that the Energy Department would not be finished with all vehicle E-15 testing “until August” but “there could be enough data by the end of May to act in June.” Buis says some 2 years of testing is enough, ”It is time. We’ve proven in our submission, that we can go to E-15 in our nation’s automobiles, without any damage to automobile engines…without any damage to emissions equipment.” EPA acknowledged in December that testing until then was encouraging, which Growth Energy took as favorable for E-15.

Buis argues more delay is unacceptable, “It’s another day that we don’t make strides in becoming less dependent on foreign oil…another day that we’re not creating jobs right here in America-jobs that can’t be outsourced.” Even if EPA approves E-15, the oil industry is expected to mount a court challenge to more competition from ethanol, possibly further delaying ethanol’s shift into “high gear.”

China's 'land grab' could be a development opportunity for African agriculture

by Doug Saunders

What if Beijing’s ‘invasion’ could be a major development opportunity for farmers in Africa?

In the fertile lands south of the Sahara, the huge green apparitions have become an increasingly familiar sight. After crossing the long stretches of the dun-coloured wasteland and the tiny, emaciated peasant plots that make up much of Africa’s countryside, you’re suddenly confronted with a huge expanse of green, robust crops doused in modern irrigation, worked with tractors and scattered with scores of field workers.

Here is the most visible face of Beijing’s powerful presence in Africa. Virtually unnoticed by people outside, Chinese companies have spent the past two years accumulating millions of hectares of African farmland.

Since 2008, when worldwide food shortages and a boom in biofuels suddenly made farming an attractive target for investment again, at least 20 million hectares – and possibly as much as 100 million – have been leased by foreigners (actual buying is rare) in Africa. On one hand, you can see the appeal: Africa has the cheapest arable land in the world, valued at an average of $800 a hectare.

Many of these deals are being done by China – how much, we don’t know, because record-keeping is sketchy. Persian Gulf countries and Europeans are also making big agricultural investments in Africa, but China’s getting the attention because it’s moved in with so much money and because it’s a poor and authoritarian developing country whose motives and methods are widely distrusted.

Indeed, if you picked up an African newspaper this week, you’d likely have seen cries of protest at this Chinese incursion, one that’s being portrayed as an “African land grab” and a “new scramble for Africa” – both references to Europe’s catastrophic colonial theft of African resources in the past two centuries. A coalition of activist groups has organized to fight such deals and keep the land in African hands.

But it’s worth taking a second look. People see the Chinese as moving into Africa, kicking poor farmers off their land, and growing food to be shipped back to China for domestic consumption. This seems unlikely, however. China already produces far more food than it needs, and its agricultural productivity is increasing. What it does have is $2-trillion (U.S.) in foreign-exchange reserves that it realizes it ought to invest more widely. African farms are a great bargain for investors who don’t mind risk; they can be turned into high-output and, therefore, high-profit operations.

Scholars who’ve examined China’s Africa policy have found not a desire for immediate returns but a longer-term interest in developing the continent’s infrastructure, training, management and investment to the point that yields will be far higher.

This happens to be exactly what African farms need. Whether someone from another continent can deliver it is an open question, but we shouldn’t be so quick to assume the worst.

Hunger and malnutrition afflict most of Africa’s countries, which, despite having some of the most fertile land in the world, are net importers of food. This is purely a matter of productivity. In crops such as corn, African farms are typically producing between 30 and 60 bushels a hectare; North American and European farms get 120 to 160 bushels from the same hectare because of better technology and investment.

We have just lived through a 15-year period during which per capita African food production fell by 8 per cent, while it increased in Asia by more than 25 per cent. If what happened in Europe a century ago and what’s happening in Asia now can be made to happen in Africa, then one of the world’s most serious problems could be solved.

The only major analysis of foreign farm investment in Africa was recently completed by Lorenzo Cotula and his colleagues at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development. Titled Land Grab or Development Opportunity, it found that, on the whole, there can be much more of the latter than the former if the deals are done right.

The result could be something like the shift that transformed European farming a century and a half ago: a move from hand-to-mouth subsistence farming to commercial farming that produces five times more food, employs many more people at far better wages than peasant earnings, and puts an end to rural poverty, which is currently the world’s largest killer of people.

Ugandan development economist Dick Kamuganga found that, if deals with foreigners are made to contract out the farming itself to local small-hold farmers (a practice that economists generally agree produces higher yields anyway), the result could “deliver the investment capital, technical know-how, jobs to local farmers and predictable food security for Africa.” If it takes a Chinese invasion to do it, it still might be worth it.

China's 'land grab' could be a development opportunity for African agriculture

by Doug Saunders

What if Beijing’s ‘invasion’ could be a major development opportunity for farmers in Africa?

In the fertile lands south of the Sahara, the huge green apparitions have become an increasingly familiar sight. After crossing the long stretches of the dun-coloured wasteland and the tiny, emaciated peasant plots that make up much of Africa’s countryside, you’re suddenly confronted with a huge expanse of green, robust crops doused in modern irrigation, worked with tractors and scattered with scores of field workers.

Here is the most visible face of Beijing’s powerful presence in Africa. Virtually unnoticed by people outside, Chinese companies have spent the past two years accumulating millions of hectares of African farmland.

Since 2008, when worldwide food shortages and a boom in biofuels suddenly made farming an attractive target for investment again, at least 20 million hectares – and possibly as much as 100 million – have been leased by foreigners (actual buying is rare) in Africa. On one hand, you can see the appeal: Africa has the cheapest arable land in the world, valued at an average of $800 a hectare.

Many of these deals are being done by China – how much, we don’t know, because record-keeping is sketchy. Persian Gulf countries and Europeans are also making big agricultural investments in Africa, but China’s getting the attention because it’s moved in with so much money and because it’s a poor and authoritarian developing country whose motives and methods are widely distrusted.

Indeed, if you picked up an African newspaper this week, you’d likely have seen cries of protest at this Chinese incursion, one that’s being portrayed as an “African land grab” and a “new scramble for Africa” – both references to Europe’s catastrophic colonial theft of African resources in the past two centuries. A coalition of activist groups has organized to fight such deals and keep the land in African hands.

But it’s worth taking a second look. People see the Chinese as moving into Africa, kicking poor farmers off their land, and growing food to be shipped back to China for domestic consumption. This seems unlikely, however. China already produces far more food than it needs, and its agricultural productivity is increasing. What it does have is $2-trillion (U.S.) in foreign-exchange reserves that it realizes it ought to invest more widely. African farms are a great bargain for investors who don’t mind risk; they can be turned into high-output and, therefore, high-profit operations.

Scholars who’ve examined China’s Africa policy have found not a desire for immediate returns but a longer-term interest in developing the continent’s infrastructure, training, management and investment to the point that yields will be far higher.

This happens to be exactly what African farms need. Whether someone from another continent can deliver it is an open question, but we shouldn’t be so quick to assume the worst.

Hunger and malnutrition afflict most of Africa’s countries, which, despite having some of the most fertile land in the world, are net importers of food. This is purely a matter of productivity. In crops such as corn, African farms are typically producing between 30 and 60 bushels a hectare; North American and European farms get 120 to 160 bushels from the same hectare because of better technology and investment.

We have just lived through a 15-year period during which per capita African food production fell by 8 per cent, while it increased in Asia by more than 25 per cent. If what happened in Europe a century ago and what’s happening in Asia now can be made to happen in Africa, then one of the world’s most serious problems could be solved.

The only major analysis of foreign farm investment in Africa was recently completed by Lorenzo Cotula and his colleagues at the London-based International Institute for Environment and Development. Titled Land Grab or Development Opportunity, it found that, on the whole, there can be much more of the latter than the former if the deals are done right.

The result could be something like the shift that transformed European farming a century and a half ago: a move from hand-to-mouth subsistence farming to commercial farming that produces five times more food, employs many more people at far better wages than peasant earnings, and puts an end to rural poverty, which is currently the world’s largest killer of people.

Ugandan development economist Dick Kamuganga found that, if deals with foreigners are made to contract out the farming itself to local small-hold farmers (a practice that economists generally agree produces higher yields anyway), the result could “deliver the investment capital, technical know-how, jobs to local farmers and predictable food security for Africa.” If it takes a Chinese invasion to do it, it still might be worth it.

Peru's Cana Brava sells ethanol to BP

Distiller Cana Brava said it sold a 6.5 mln litre ethanol parcel to oil major British Petroleum which plans to sell the product in Germany or in the United Kingdom. Loading is scheduled for early June.

Cana Brava, which operates a 105 mln ethanol plant in Rio Chira, Piura, is currently devoting 90% of its output to the export market.

Peru's Cana Brava sells ethanol to BP

Distiller Cana Brava said it sold a 6.5 mln litre ethanol parcel to oil major British Petroleum which plans to sell the product in Germany or in the United Kingdom. Loading is scheduled for early June.

Cana Brava, which operates a 105 mln ethanol plant in Rio Chira, Piura, is currently devoting 90% of its output to the export market.

EU MEMBER STATES TO MISS 2010 BIOFUELS TARGET

It comes as absolutely no surprise that, as in previous years, the European Union's (EU) indicative biofuels consumption target of 5.75% for 2010 will not be met. The European Commission had already indicated a couple of years ago that this year's indicative objective was unlikely to be met citing a projection of 4.2%. The reasons for this failure can be found in the member states' legislative frameworks. Although in 2010 some countries actually exceeded the 5.75% benchmark, the Community average was pulled down by the poor performers whose biofuel usage is only marginal. This results in EU biofuels having a forecast market share of just 4% by energy content in 2010.

EU MEMBER STATES TO MISS 2010 BIOFUELS TARGET

It comes as absolutely no surprise that, as in previous years, the European Union's (EU) indicative biofuels consumption target of 5.75% for 2010 will not be met. The European Commission had already indicated a couple of years ago that this year's indicative objective was unlikely to be met citing a projection of 4.2%. The reasons for this failure can be found in the member states' legislative frameworks. Although in 2010 some countries actually exceeded the 5.75% benchmark, the Community average was pulled down by the poor performers whose biofuel usage is only marginal. This results in EU biofuels having a forecast market share of just 4% by energy content in 2010.

Locals buck oil firms’ ethanol imports

BY EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO Reporter

Local ethanol players have said oil companies have not been complying with the Biofuels law because they continue to buy ethanol abroad.

Tetchi Cruz Capellan, Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) executive director, said that as stated in the Biofuels Act of 2006, all liquid fuels for motors and engines in the Philippines should contain locally sourced biofuels.

“We cannot understand why the oil companies refuse to heed the law,” she said.

Because of this, the Department of Energy earlier issued a circular that controls the importation of ethanol by requiring all oil companies to declare compliance to the Biofuels Act.

Most oil firms continue to source most of their ethanol requirements from countries like Brazil because of limited local production.

“If the department fails to control the importation of ethanol from Brazil, [then] we are simply replacing Middle East oil imports with Brazilian ethanol imports,” Capellan said.

Brazil is the recognized global leader in ethanol production, exporting 3.5 billion liters of ethanol and has supplied the domestic market with approximately 14 billion liters in 2007.

The South American country imposes a 30-percent import tax on ethanol to protect its industry whereas the Philippines only slaps a 1-percent duty on such imports.

Capellan said that the uneven playing field slowed the entry of investments in the biofuels sector, consequently undermining the alternative fuels program of the government.

As a result, Alto Power Inc.—which has a potential to produce 40 million liters of ethanol—announced last month they would pull out investments from the ethanol plant project in Cagayan de Oro because of the government’s weak support for the industry.

Locals buck oil firms’ ethanol imports

BY EUAN PAULO C. AÑONUEVO Reporter

Local ethanol players have said oil companies have not been complying with the Biofuels law because they continue to buy ethanol abroad.

Tetchi Cruz Capellan, Ethanol Producers Association of the Philippines (EPAP) executive director, said that as stated in the Biofuels Act of 2006, all liquid fuels for motors and engines in the Philippines should contain locally sourced biofuels.

“We cannot understand why the oil companies refuse to heed the law,” she said.

Because of this, the Department of Energy earlier issued a circular that controls the importation of ethanol by requiring all oil companies to declare compliance to the Biofuels Act.

Most oil firms continue to source most of their ethanol requirements from countries like Brazil because of limited local production.

“If the department fails to control the importation of ethanol from Brazil, [then] we are simply replacing Middle East oil imports with Brazilian ethanol imports,” Capellan said.

Brazil is the recognized global leader in ethanol production, exporting 3.5 billion liters of ethanol and has supplied the domestic market with approximately 14 billion liters in 2007.

The South American country imposes a 30-percent import tax on ethanol to protect its industry whereas the Philippines only slaps a 1-percent duty on such imports.

Capellan said that the uneven playing field slowed the entry of investments in the biofuels sector, consequently undermining the alternative fuels program of the government.

As a result, Alto Power Inc.—which has a potential to produce 40 million liters of ethanol—announced last month they would pull out investments from the ethanol plant project in Cagayan de Oro because of the government’s weak support for the industry.

Shell, Iogen to Accelerate Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol

Shell, which has been making headway into the world of biofuels, most recently with a major joint venture with Brazil’s Cosan, just announced that it will make a further investment in Iogen Energy for the purpose of accelerating the commercial deployment of Iogen Energy’s process for making cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residue. As part of the ongoing joint development agreement between Shell, Iogen Corp. and Iogen Energy, Shell has made a significant incremental commitment to fund research and development activities at Iogen Energy until mid-2012. “Shell remains committed to addressing today’s energy challenges through sustainable, advanced biofuels that take CO2 out of the transport fuels sector and diversify supply over the next 20 years. We believe accelerating the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol will help us to achieve that goal,” says Luis Scoffone, vice president of alternative energies at Shell.

Shell, Iogen to Accelerate Commercialization of Cellulosic Ethanol

Shell, which has been making headway into the world of biofuels, most recently with a major joint venture with Brazil’s Cosan, just announced that it will make a further investment in Iogen Energy for the purpose of accelerating the commercial deployment of Iogen Energy’s process for making cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residue. As part of the ongoing joint development agreement between Shell, Iogen Corp. and Iogen Energy, Shell has made a significant incremental commitment to fund research and development activities at Iogen Energy until mid-2012. “Shell remains committed to addressing today’s energy challenges through sustainable, advanced biofuels that take CO2 out of the transport fuels sector and diversify supply over the next 20 years. We believe accelerating the commercialization of cellulosic ethanol will help us to achieve that goal,” says Luis Scoffone, vice president of alternative energies at Shell.

Ag Secretary Calls for Long-Term Ethanol Subsidies

According to Des Moines Register’s Philip Brasher, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wants a long-term extension to the subsidies for ethanol but won’t say how Congress should pay for measures, which could cost $40 billion or more. Vilsack says long-term extensions of the ethanol subsidies are needed in order to attract private capital to new biofuel projects. “It’s very difficult to get investors interested,” he said, “without this long-term commitment.”
The Agriculture and Energy departments and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hope to reach a consensus on a biofuel development strategy this summer, according to Vilsack. He did not say when the plan would be released. “We need a plan. We need to show that there’s a way to get to 36 billion gallons,” he said. The Administration said in a report issued in February that the government needs to set a timetable for commercializing advanced biofuels and to take a region-by-region approach to developing production and markets.

Vilsack expressed confidence that the EPA would allow more ethanol to be added to the gasoline used in conventional cars and trucks. The limit is now 10 percent. The industry wants the cap raised to 15 percent. A decision is expected this summer.

Ag Secretary Calls for Long-Term Ethanol Subsidies

According to Des Moines Register’s Philip Brasher, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack wants a long-term extension to the subsidies for ethanol but won’t say how Congress should pay for measures, which could cost $40 billion or more. Vilsack says long-term extensions of the ethanol subsidies are needed in order to attract private capital to new biofuel projects. “It’s very difficult to get investors interested,” he said, “without this long-term commitment.”
The Agriculture and Energy departments and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hope to reach a consensus on a biofuel development strategy this summer, according to Vilsack. He did not say when the plan would be released. “We need a plan. We need to show that there’s a way to get to 36 billion gallons,” he said. The Administration said in a report issued in February that the government needs to set a timetable for commercializing advanced biofuels and to take a region-by-region approach to developing production and markets.

Vilsack expressed confidence that the EPA would allow more ethanol to be added to the gasoline used in conventional cars and trucks. The limit is now 10 percent. The industry wants the cap raised to 15 percent. A decision is expected this summer.

Tweaking model improves ethanol's footprint

CALIFORNIA has led the charge in enforcing stricter air emissions requirements.

For ethanol, an initial analysis from Purdue University made ethanol seem less attractive at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to other alternatives. Now, a revision to the Purdue economic analysis is showing that ethanol could be a somewhat better option than previously thought.


Wally Tyner, a Purdue agricultural economist and the report's lead author, said revisions to the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model better reflect market conditions and land productivity than a 2009 report showing that corn-based ethanol wouldn't significantly lower GHG emissions over gasoline.


"The difference between this report and previous reports is advances in science," Tyner said. "With any issue, your first cut may not be the best, but when you get new data and new methods, you improve."


The report considers land use changes when calculating total GHG emissions from biofuels based on the U.S. program to increase corn ethanol production to 15 billion gal. by 2015. Those changes include emissions created by converting forests or pastures to cropland. The new analysis predicts emissions related to land use change to be 35% lower than previous analyses.


Purdue economists ran three new simulations through the GTAP model. The first used 2001 economic data as a base, the second updated the data through 2006 and the third used the updated 2006 data and assumed growth in population and crop yield through 2015.


The 2009 report showed total -- including with land use changes -- carbon dioxide emissions per megajoule (MJ) for ethanol to be 86.3 g, while the three simulations in the new report predicted 84.4 g, 81.1 g and 77.5 g, respectively (Table).


The third simulation, which Tyner said is probably the most accurate, reduced the amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted by about 10%, but he warned that there is still uncertainty with the numbers because the model contains many complex relationships, covers the entire globe and includes data and parameters from diverse resources.

Tweaking model improves ethanol's footprint

CALIFORNIA has led the charge in enforcing stricter air emissions requirements.

For ethanol, an initial analysis from Purdue University made ethanol seem less attractive at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to other alternatives. Now, a revision to the Purdue economic analysis is showing that ethanol could be a somewhat better option than previously thought.


Wally Tyner, a Purdue agricultural economist and the report's lead author, said revisions to the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) model better reflect market conditions and land productivity than a 2009 report showing that corn-based ethanol wouldn't significantly lower GHG emissions over gasoline.


"The difference between this report and previous reports is advances in science," Tyner said. "With any issue, your first cut may not be the best, but when you get new data and new methods, you improve."


The report considers land use changes when calculating total GHG emissions from biofuels based on the U.S. program to increase corn ethanol production to 15 billion gal. by 2015. Those changes include emissions created by converting forests or pastures to cropland. The new analysis predicts emissions related to land use change to be 35% lower than previous analyses.


Purdue economists ran three new simulations through the GTAP model. The first used 2001 economic data as a base, the second updated the data through 2006 and the third used the updated 2006 data and assumed growth in population and crop yield through 2015.


The 2009 report showed total -- including with land use changes -- carbon dioxide emissions per megajoule (MJ) for ethanol to be 86.3 g, while the three simulations in the new report predicted 84.4 g, 81.1 g and 77.5 g, respectively (Table).


The third simulation, which Tyner said is probably the most accurate, reduced the amount of carbon dioxide that would be emitted by about 10%, but he warned that there is still uncertainty with the numbers because the model contains many complex relationships, covers the entire globe and includes data and parameters from diverse resources.

Potencial do setor deve acelerar processo de fusão de empresas

O setor bioenergético brasileiro passa por importante transformação. A produção de etanol a partir da cana-de-açúcar -energia limpa, renovável e competitiva- está na agenda global de sustentabilidade e traz um cenário novo, promissor e positivo.

Prova disso é a chegada de novos "players", como grandes operadores agrícolas e empresas petrolíferas.

Desde 2008, vê-se operações emblemáticas de redesenho do setor, como as associações entre a Cosan e a NovaAmerica, a francesa Louis Dreyfus e a Santelisa Vale, seguida por Bunge e Moema, Shell e Cosan e pela combinação de ativos da ETH Bioenergia com a Brenco. Sem falar na recente negociação entre Petrobras e Açúcar Guarani.

Esse movimento deve se intensificar, com a consolidação de empresas com escala, tecnologia e grande capacidade de investimentos e confirma a atratividade do negócio e o forte potencial de crescimento do mercado internacional para esse combustível.

A civilização do petróleo cede espaço para fontes de energia limpas e renováveis, graças ao reconhecimento de que estas últimas reduzem as emissões de CO2 e provocam efeitos positivos no clima.

Além disso, a produção brasileira de etanol traz ganhos expressivos de competitividade, com melhor eficiência nas áreas agrícola e industrial.

O mundo reconhece que a tecnologia brasileira para a produção de energia de biomassa é uma das soluções para um mercado competitivo e sustentável.

O recente reconhecimento da Agência de Proteção Ambiental dos EUA, de que o etanol de cana-de-açúcar é um combustível avançado, e a aprovação, pelo Conselho de Qualidade do Ar do Estado da Califórnia (Carb), da regulamentação do Padrão de Combustível de Baixa Emissão de Carbono (LCFS) devem beneficiar a entrada do etanol brasileiro nos EUA.

A LCFS torna obrigatória, na Califórnia, a redução em 10% das emissões de dióxido de carbono e outros gases de efeito estufa, até 2020.

O Japão também vê no etanol de cana-de-açúcar uma solução para reduzir a emissão de CO2 e sua dependência em relação a combustíveis fósseis. O governo japonês trabalha em um projeto para aumentar para até 10% a mistura de etanol na gasolina até 2020, o que criaria um mercado potencial de até 6 bilhões de litros para o etanol produzido no Brasil.

Essa transformação no cenário internacional pode abrir uma nova fase de crescimento para os investimentos no setor, estimados em R$ 100 bilhões nos próximos cinco anos, além de gerar empregos qualificados.

Chegou o momento de vencer as restrições comerciais internacionais e levar a discussão da produção de etanol para a agenda energética mundial.

Artigo publicado no jornal Folha de S. Paulo, edição de 28 de maio de 2010.


José Carlos Grubisich é presidente da ETH Bioenergia.

Potencial do setor deve acelerar processo de fusão de empresas

O setor bioenergético brasileiro passa por importante transformação. A produção de etanol a partir da cana-de-açúcar -energia limpa, renovável e competitiva- está na agenda global de sustentabilidade e traz um cenário novo, promissor e positivo.

Prova disso é a chegada de novos "players", como grandes operadores agrícolas e empresas petrolíferas.

Desde 2008, vê-se operações emblemáticas de redesenho do setor, como as associações entre a Cosan e a NovaAmerica, a francesa Louis Dreyfus e a Santelisa Vale, seguida por Bunge e Moema, Shell e Cosan e pela combinação de ativos da ETH Bioenergia com a Brenco. Sem falar na recente negociação entre Petrobras e Açúcar Guarani.

Esse movimento deve se intensificar, com a consolidação de empresas com escala, tecnologia e grande capacidade de investimentos e confirma a atratividade do negócio e o forte potencial de crescimento do mercado internacional para esse combustível.

A civilização do petróleo cede espaço para fontes de energia limpas e renováveis, graças ao reconhecimento de que estas últimas reduzem as emissões de CO2 e provocam efeitos positivos no clima.

Além disso, a produção brasileira de etanol traz ganhos expressivos de competitividade, com melhor eficiência nas áreas agrícola e industrial.

O mundo reconhece que a tecnologia brasileira para a produção de energia de biomassa é uma das soluções para um mercado competitivo e sustentável.

O recente reconhecimento da Agência de Proteção Ambiental dos EUA, de que o etanol de cana-de-açúcar é um combustível avançado, e a aprovação, pelo Conselho de Qualidade do Ar do Estado da Califórnia (Carb), da regulamentação do Padrão de Combustível de Baixa Emissão de Carbono (LCFS) devem beneficiar a entrada do etanol brasileiro nos EUA.

A LCFS torna obrigatória, na Califórnia, a redução em 10% das emissões de dióxido de carbono e outros gases de efeito estufa, até 2020.

O Japão também vê no etanol de cana-de-açúcar uma solução para reduzir a emissão de CO2 e sua dependência em relação a combustíveis fósseis. O governo japonês trabalha em um projeto para aumentar para até 10% a mistura de etanol na gasolina até 2020, o que criaria um mercado potencial de até 6 bilhões de litros para o etanol produzido no Brasil.

Essa transformação no cenário internacional pode abrir uma nova fase de crescimento para os investimentos no setor, estimados em R$ 100 bilhões nos próximos cinco anos, além de gerar empregos qualificados.

Chegou o momento de vencer as restrições comerciais internacionais e levar a discussão da produção de etanol para a agenda energética mundial.

Artigo publicado no jornal Folha de S. Paulo, edição de 28 de maio de 2010.


José Carlos Grubisich é presidente da ETH Bioenergia.