Biofuels in Brazil: debates and impacts

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Abstract
This article presents an analysis of the two major components of Brazil's biofuels initiatives – ethanol from sugarcane and biodiesel from a variety of raw material sources. With the crisis unleashed at the end of 2008, huge question marks hang over the timetable and the scope of future investments in the sector. Even prior to the current crisis the biofuels debate was suffering a sharp volte-face with earlier euphoria being replaced by sustained critiques from NGOs, social movements, influential representatives of the techno-bureaucracy, and global agrifood firms. As a result governments are currently reviewing their policies, further exacerbating the uncertainties surrounding biofuels. Brazil is already assuming a protagonist role in the promotion of biofuels and its biofuels programs occupy a central place both in global debates on this issue and in the eventual emergence of global biofuels markets.

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