The View From Brazil: Biofuels Are Not a Problem

U.S. News & World Report

The food-vs.-fuel debate rings hollow since Brazilians say they have the capacity to produce both
By Thomas Omestad
Posted June 3, 2008

BRASILIA, BRAZIL—Biofuels are taking a beating in world opinion, as rising food commodity prices are being blamed, in part, on surging interest in shifting farm field production from food crops to those used to produce ethanol. But here in the capital of Brazil, there is little patience for that critique, which is seen as unfair and—in the case of this ethanol-crazy South American country—simply wrong.

"Don't tell me biofuels are causing inflation," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said recently. He went on to tell a United Nations audience that gathered here this spring, "Biofuels aren't the villain that threatens food security." On the contrary, he added, "they can pull countries out of energy dependency without affecting foods."

Brazil, it's estimated, has more as-yet-uncultivated arable land available than all the land now devoted to agriculture in the European Union. Not surprisingly, the Brazilians reject any suggestion that their national drive for ethanol is contributing to the crisis in global food prices. Their forte is sugar cane-based ethanol, a product that requires less land, has less ecological impact, and costs less than the U.S. variant—heavily subsidized, corn-based ethanol.

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