Word: ethanol
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Alcohol consumption in Brazil is on the rise, but not because people are drinking more. Instead, drivers are filling their gas tanks with ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, which is one of two fuel options used in a new generation of Brazilian cars called Flex. The cars work like traditional vehicles but can run on either gasoline or ethanol derived from sugar cane--a commodity in abundance in Brazil. Volkswagen, Ford, Fiat and GM all produce Flex lines. In May sales of Flex vehicles overtook gasoline models for the first time. By August, Flex sales had risen 61.7%. "I am hard...
Brazil is a leader in this technology by virtue of its extensive expertise at every stage of the supply chain: growing sugar cane efficiently, refining it, converting it to ethanol and manufacturing the cars. Brazil is building ethanol plants and is in a great position to capitalize on its vast experience by selling its knowledge to other countries that decide to adopt this new technology or buy its cars...
...where ethanol is usually made from corn, it has had a rockier road partly because government subsidies are seen as benefiting big producers. Brazil's ethanol industry has created nearly 1 million jobs and helped cut oil imports. Says Alfred Szwarc, an expert with São Paulo's sugar-cane association: "People see Flex cars as the car of the future...
...Rocky Mountain Institute, a think tank that advocates a radical restructuring of the energy economy. Shell has become the largest seller of biofuels, he says: "We're talking about new processes for turning woody, weedy plants like switch grass and poplar--also crop waste like wheat straw--into cellulosic ethanol...
...global problem that needs a global solution. David G. Wright Sturbridge, Massachusetts, U.S. There are solutions that can reduce global-warming pollution and preserve a healthy climate for our kids. We must invest in innovative clean-energy sources - from wind turbines and solar panels to biofuels such as ethanol - and use off-the-shelf technologies to make more fuel-efficient cars. Those technologies will stimulate new markets, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, save consumers money, enhance our national security and reduce global-warming pollution. The time to act is now. Julie Anderson Climate Change Campaign Manager Union of Concerned...