In the United States, much of the ethanol produced comes from corn or other plant wastes. Ethanol is in high demand, its benefits could be used a lot more than we actually use it. In other areas around the world, ethanol is derived from sugar cane. Two such nations that are turning this crop into transportation fuel include India and Brazil. Read below about this transportation technology used by these two nations, and the possible socioeconomic impacts that this process may have on them.
India is the largest sugar producer in the world, and in terms of sugarcane, it stands head to head with Brazil. India is currently facing an overhaul of their sugar cane and molasses producing industry to incorporate the distilling of sugar cane ethanol. The goal is to take this ethanol and blend it with gasoline to produce a cleaner burning fuel and lower the country s current dependence on oil.
While India is well on its way to the increase in sugar cane ethanol production, Brazil is already there with plans to become self-sufficient in regards to energy. Brazil is already to the point where some pumps put out only alcohol while others pump out only gasoline. This achievement did not come to Brazil easily, but rather took tens of years of research, mistakes, and billions of dollars to accomplish.
The Politics of Ethanol
Fuel economy, availability and usage drive many of the political discussions, debates and wars in our current world. One of the concerns facing the nations producing sugar cane ethanol is that of foreign trade. Will the pressure placed on these nations by outside countries be equivalent to that placed by oil producing countries today? While the answers are uncertain, it is clear that other nations around the world are beginning to see the success that these two lands have had and wish to replicate it.
Currently, the tax levied on sugar cane ethanol imported from Brazil is 54 cents a gallon by the United States, hindering the involvement of Americans in the building of the industry. On another big business note, there are two industries that will dramatically be affected by the use of ethanol in automobiles including the oil industry and the automobile industry. Automobile companies are being challenged to produce cars with flexible fuel engines. These run on gasoline, a mixture of ethanol and gasoline, or on ethanol alone.