Brazilian ethanol firms Cosan, Guarani, NovAmerica and Alcoeste have signed a deal to export 115 million litres of certified sustainable anhydrous ethanol to Sweden-based Sekab. The agreement marks the first shipments to Europe with strict social and environmental standards.
The standards include zero tolerance for child and slave labour, with the requirement that mills have 100 percent mechanised labour by 2014. The private-sector regulations are meant to ease European consumer concern about ethanol’s sustainability and its environmental, social and economic implications. The trading company SCA, which will manage the exports, says this represents a major step toward realising an international standard for sustainable ethanol.
Though there is discussion worldwide about certification criteria for sustainable ethanol, no decisions have been made yet (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 18 April 2008, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/08-04-18/story2.htm). Overall, the sustainability of the biofuels sector is increasingly being questioned, especially following the recent rapid rise in food prices (see related story, this issue, and Bridges Trade BioRes, 13 June 2008, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/08-06-13/story1.htm).
In related news, Brazilian president Lula da Silva has said that Brazil expects rapid expansion of its ethanol industry and is preparing to address growing concerns about its ethanol production. Lula met with US president George Bush in Washington following the early June Rome Summit on World Food Security. During the discussions, Bush said the US planned to raise its consumption from 5 billion to 35 billion gallons by 2017, using both domestic corn-based products and sugar-based imports from Brazil. The US currently subsidises its domestic ethanol industry, as well as maintaining tariffs on ethanol imports from Brazil.
ICTSD reporting; “Brazil signs deal to export sustainable ethanol,” REUTERS, 25 June 2008; “Biofuels: Brazil disputes cost of sugar in the tank,” GUARDIAN, 10 June 2008.