Is sugarcane ethanol still a good alternative?

85 liters of ethanol per each tonne (metric) of sugarcane harvested. This is the output of a standard sugarcane ethanol plant. As we know, 45 percent of Brazilian fuel needs are covered by ethanol. Of course, what once was thought as the easy solution to replace fossil fuels is now being blamed for a dramatic rise in food prices (or not), by as much as 86 percent. However, we found an article that states that only one feedstock has maintained prices since 2006: sugarcane.

Then there are the surface constraints. UNICA (the Brazilian association of sugarcane producers) states that only 1 percent of Brazil's agricultural land is used to produce ethanol, yet it supplies 45 percent of the country's fuel needs. UNICA also says that there's about seven times more land available from rough surfaces that can't be used for anything else, not to mention that they can plant different species of sugarcane which produce throughout the year.

Therefore UNICA's answer is "yes," ethanol is still a good alternative

[Source: El Mundo via Madrid+d]

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