U.S. Importing, Exporting Ethanol To and From Brazil

Corn & Soybean Digest
Source: Renewable Fuels Association
Dec. 20, 2011 4:21pm

Flawed carbon accounting schemes at both the federal and state level are creating a dynamic where the U.S. is importing ethanol from Brazil while simultaneously exporting greater volumes back to Brazil. This “ethanol shuffle” is occurring exclusively as the result of state and Federal fuel regulations that “treat Brazilian sugarcane ethanol as if it were the Holy Grail of biofuels,” according to Geoff Cooper, the Renewable Fuels Association’s vice president of research and analysis.

In his recent blog post, “The Ethanol Shuffle,” Cooper explores this convoluted trade relationship and how U.S. policy is turning world ethanol markets upside down.

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