I was surprised to find out that the country that is pushing ethanol as an alternative to oil is Brazil. Not only are they already the leader in this movement, but they are looking to extend this trade to other countries around the world. In doing so, a huge market would open up and improve the economic situation in South America. They are hoping that recent economy crash will entice more people towards the idea of fuel made from sugarcane because it is more cost effective than corn based bio fuel. As more people are drawn in, Brazil is hoping that the strict trade barrier, 54 cents per gallon of fuel imported, will be lowered by the United States.
The US lobby group for ethanol fuel has reported that thousands of jobs and dollars if ethanol is pulled as an alternative. These facts have been contested by UNICA, backed by a study done by Iowa State University, which reports that amount of jobs loss is grossly overestimated.
One of the driving factors behind the debate of whether or not ethanol is actually an environmentally friendly option for consumers. US Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that ethanol's greenhouse gas emissions are 61% lower than that of oil. Others are concerned that this ethanol use would only spark degradation of land as it is overused for sugarcane production. It's kind of worrying that ethanol might only remove one problem and replace it with another.
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