The Proálcool biofuels program in the context of the Brazilian energy strategy

Manfred Nitsch ()

Brazilian Journal of Political Economy, 1991, vol. 11, issue 2, 274-299

Abstract: The biofuel programme was started in 1975 and greatly enhanced in 1979/81 asa reaction to the price hikes of oil and the simultaneous price drops of sugar. It never becameeconomically viable, but has always owed its existence to state support which, in tum wasvindicated by the powerful sugar interests. Since only Otto engine (not Diesel) motors can bedriven by alcohol, the individual passenger car traffic with its well-known waste of energyturns out to be highly subsidized in Brazil, in spite of the country’s serious overall energyshortage. Future prospects for biofuel are generally bleak, for even with steeply rising oilprices energy in the form of food is bound to be more expensive than energy for heating andtransport so that mineral coal and wood are much more probable candidates as fuel sourcesthan sugarcane and edible oils, once the era of oil comes to its end. JEL Classification: Q29; L72.

Keywords: Fuel; biofuel; etanol; Proálcool (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1991
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