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Futures and Commodity Market News |
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Sat May 17, 2008 |
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Breaking financial news 24/7 courtesy of TradingCharts.com Inc. / TFC Commodity Charts |
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Rio de Janeiro, May 9, 2008 (EFE via COMTEX) -- Biofuel and other sugarcane derivatives have become Brazil's second-leading source of energy, behind oil and ahead of hydropower, a government study revealed. That unprecedented position was reached in 2007 and the trend is for sugarcane to continue to be more important than hydraulic power in the future, the Mines and Energy Ministry said. "Products derived from sugarcane accounted for 16 percent of energy output, occupying the second position among the energy sources most in demand last year, behind only oil and derivatives with 36.7 percent," the report said. Among the cane-based products are ethanol fuel for automobiles, bagasse and sugarcane biomass, which is burned to generate electricity in thermal power plants. In 2006, sugarcane derivatives' share of the total energy output was 14.5 percent. In 2007, the share of hydroelectric power was 14.7 percent, compared to 14.8 percent in 2006, while that of oil and its derivatives fell 1.1 percent relative to 2006. "Last year was very important and symbolic for the Brazil energy sector," ministry official Mauricio Tolmasquim, who presented the National Energy Evaluation report Thursday in Rio de Janeiro, told reporters. Tolmasquim said that renewable sources accounted for 70 percent of the growth in energy consumption last year and "close to 46 percent of the (total) energy consumed in Brazil." Worldwide, the average contribution of renewable sources to energy output is roughly 12.7 percent, while among the countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that figure is just 6.2 percent, the report said. "Sugarcane became more important as a share of energy output than hydropower, which for years and decades was the second-leading source. Everything indicates that this is a trend that is here to stay," Tolmasquim said. He added that ethanol's advance is "irreversible." In general, Brazilian demand for all types of electricity grew 5.9 percent in 2007, outpacing the growth in gross domestic product, which was 5.4 percent. Total demand for ethanol in Brazil was 20.1 billion liters in 2007, driven in part by the government's decision to alter the gasoline-ethanol blend by raising the biofuel's portion from 23 percent to 25 percent. The use of hydrated alcohol, or pure ethanol, in vehicle tanks rose 46 percent to 10.4 billion liters. Sugarcane production climbed to 495 million tons in 2007, up 15.7 percent compared with the previous harvest, while the total cultivated area for that crop rose 8.2 percent to 6.7 million hectares (almost 26,000 square miles). EFE ol/mc |
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Copyright (C) 2008. Agencia EFE S.A. Please read the End User Agreement. News provided by COMTEX |
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