Brazil's Ethanol Fuel Program

The Brazilian ethanol fuel program (Proalcool) is the world’s largest biomass to energy program. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of the Brazilian experience with ethanol as a substitute for gasoline and analyse its future prospects in both Brazil and the world market. Initiated in 1975 as a response to the first oil crisis and the resulting sharp increase in worldwide oil prices, the program has experienced prolonged periods of both splendour and gloom. Early success was followed by a period during which the program came under intense criticism on economic grounds due to low oil prices and high ethanol production costs. On the verge of collapsing, Proalcool was only lately revived due to a multiplicity of socioeconomic and environmental reasons. In recent years there has been renewed global interest in biofuels and a rapid expansion of biofuels markets. This book will therefore be of great help to policymakers, academics and business people curious to learn how was Brazil able to create the competitive assets that made Proalcool a success in terms of developing institutional and technological capabilities for using a renewable fuel in large scale.