Lean, green and not mean from the Economist about Brazilian Ethanol.
Keep on going down, there is a table there and I am not sure what is going on with the formatting...Claim Against Brazilian Ethanol | Reality |
Workers are exploited cutting sugar cane. | Industry is moving to mechanical harvesting. 60%is already mechanized and by 2012 the rest should be. |
There is a high death rate for harvesters | It’s 1 in 24,000 and it’s actually higher for regular farm workers 91 in 16,000). With increased usage of mechanical harvesters this should be lowered. |
Energy gained does not make sense from Brazilian Ethanol | Brazilian Ethanol produces 8.2 X energy input, compared to 1.5 for |
It’s causing deforestation of the Amazon | The area mostly used for sugar cane is near San Paulo and in the North East, thousands of miles away from the forest (17M acres). Research may increase the energy gained from sugar cane with new varieties. Cattle ranching (485m Acres) causes a lot more deforestation. |
Food prices are increasing due to Brazilian Ethanol | Only a small part of Brazilian agriculture land is being used for sugar cane, and it lowers the cost of energy. The high cost of energy contributes to higher food prices. |
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