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Brazilian sugarcane ethanol has become an important component of America’s advanced biofuels supply. But language tucked away in a proposed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rulemaking could effectively end U.S. access to this clean renewable fuel.

Sugarcane ethanol plays a modest but important role supplying the United States with clean renewable fuel. Last year, Brazilian sugarcane ethanol comprised only 3 percent of all renewable fuel consumed by Americans, but provided nearly one-quarter of the U.S. supply of advanced biofuels. These vital facts are getting lost in a debate that’s heating up in Washington, D.C., so sugarcane ethanol producers plan to step up our profile.

Most Americans who start the day stirring a spoonful of sugar into their coffee would be surprised to learn they generally pay more for the sweetener than residents of other countries buying it on the global market. Major American commodities traders track two prices for sugar – a world price and a more expensive U.S. price. Why the difference?

The day we have all been waiting for has come. Over the last few months, governments have been working on a document that needs signatures of more than 130 international leaders coming to Rio from all over the world. Keeping in line with the level of ambition associated with the summit the paper is called “The Future We Want”. It is meant to commit its signatories to do their best to put the world on a more sustainable development path and ultimately a green economy.

Today is Earth Day. And this year we have a number of reasons to celebrate it. Perhaps the most significant one is the chance to build the future we want. In June, the world will see Brazil hosting the largest forum ever in the history of the United Nations: Rio+20. The UN Conference on Sustainable Development represents a historic opportunity to define pathways to a more sustainable future. World leaders, along with thousands of participants from the private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape a more sustainable world where economic growth, poverty reduction, social equity and environmental protection go hand-in-hand.

As I write this, my Brazilian and American colleagues from government and private sector are working around the clock to ensure that President Dilma Rousseff’s trip to Washington D.C. on this upcoming Monday is a great success. Success for Brazil and success for the U.S. And because this is the President’s first trip to the U.S. in her current post it makes it all the more important. I am particularly glad that this meeting takes place at a time when the ethanol import tariff is an issue of the past. So, we can strike that item off the agenda once and for all.

When we created Sugarcane.org last year, our intent was to continuously provide pertinent information for a growing audience of people who wanted to learn more about different aspects from sugarcane: products, sustainability, benefits, the Brazilian experience, global policies and much more.
We wanted to let you know that we have just up-loaded additional information and materials on the website.

A lot. And the Americans will be the first to tell us.

After more than three decades, the U.S. government lifted its tariff on ethanol giving the American public greater access to and an increase in environmental benefits starting in 2012. This is clearly a significant step forward, but I can’t help but think that we are missing out here in Europe?

That’s the question many of us are grappling with today. With the aim of meeting environmental goals, the European Commission is now due to finalize the very last provisions of the sustainability criteria it established two years ago in both the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) and Fuel Quality Directive. The criteria were created as a mechanism to ensure that biofuels marketed in the European Union (EU) truly help in mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity.

We at UNICA use the phrase ‘One plant, many solutions’ and I think this describes sugarcane well. Sugarcane has played a major role in helping Brazil become virtually energy independent. But that’s not all.

Last week, at the annual EU-Brazil Summit, the EU and Brazil have been discussing how to jointly tackle our global challenges – chief among them trade, climate change and economic growth. For the last four summits, leaders have pledged their unwavering commitment to work together. But were there actual results?

For five years now, European and Brazilian policy makers and officials convene to exchange views on big ticket issues for Brazil and the EU. This week they will meet in Brussels – what better place if you want to advance some critical issues between major trading blocs. The Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and business leaders plan to discuss ways to tackle common global challenges and work on strengthening ties between the EU and Brazil. Renewable energy is important to Brazil so we can safely assume it will feature on the agenda. As most involved parties, we too recognize that there is a lot to gain from a dynamic strategic partnership. Climate change, competitiveness, innovation and trade are global challenges, and they require global solutions. But most of all they require a genuine level playing field.

Brazilian consumers were shaken up in recent weeks by the steep price of ethanol at pumps throughout the country. People wonder why this happened and if it will happen again in the future. The most radical critics even said we could be facing a potential fuel shortage and raised doubts about the very future of ethanol. All of this calls for a careful analysis of the issues.

Welcome to our first blogpost directly from the 2011 edition of the Ethanol Summit, one of the world’s top events focused on renewable energies, which takes place in São Paulo, Brazil today and tomorrow.
Today was an exciting and enriching debate surrounding solutions for a low-carbon economy.

By 2050, the world's population will add another 2.5 billion people who will need to eat and power their lives. Global energy needs will likely double, and carbon dioxide emissions could increase by 80 percent. These alarming figures help explain why global leaders are searching for clean, renewable options to provide energy and reduce petroleum use. Sugarcane can help.