Ethanol is produced from sugarcane juice through a fermentation and distilling process. The juice is first purified by various filtering processes until it is ready to be fermented and mixed with yeast. One tonne of sugarcane yields about 85 liters of ethanol. After the United States, Brazil is the second largest ethanol producer in the world. Since March 2008, the volume of ethanol consumed in Brazil has been greater than that of gasoline. I expect the U SA to curb ethanol production from corn and limit ethanol exports to Brazil, all because of the devastating crop losses in 2012. From a Brazilian point of view, without ethanol imports from the USA ethanol prices at the pump in Brazil will rise substantially.

Flex-fuel cars are cars that run on either gasoline, ethanol, or a mix of the two. The “flex” part is a simple computer chip, which was invented by a Brazilian student. The Brazilian car industry and Volkswagen, in particular, introduced flex — fuel cars in 2003, and today they account for over 90% of new light vehicle sales. Of all vehicles on the road in Brazil in early 2010, 40% were flex. A significant milestone was reached by Brazil’s automotive industry in March 2010, when the 10 millionth flex car was built.

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