Description
Springer Production of Ethanol from Sugarcane in Brazil From State Intervention to a Free Market by Márcia Azanha Ferraz Dias de Moraes, David Zilberman
The success of Brazil in the large-scale production and use of fuel ethanol has been widely discussed and analyzed by other countries interested in adopting policies designed to encourage the use of biofuels. Within this context, certain questions arise: Could the Brazilian experience be replicated in other countries? What were the conditions that enabled the creation of the Brazilian Proalcool (National Ethanol Program and what lessons can be learned? To examine these issues, it is important to understand the functioning of the key, interconnected markets (those for sugarcane, sugar and ethanol), which, from their inception, were the objects of extensive government intervention until 1999. Two main conditions enabled the creation of Proalcool: robust production of sugarcane and sugar (tightly regulated by the government, which applied the numerous regulations then in place); and the military regime that was in place at the time, whose decision-making and enforcement powers were quite broad, facilitating the carrying out of the necessary actions, as well as making it easier to coordinate the activities of the various stakeholders and sectors involved. This book increases understanding of the functioning of the sugarcane supply chain in Brazil, not only during the phase of government intervention but also in recent years (in the free-market environment). The lessons, positive and negative, gleaned from the Brazilian experience can contribute to reflection on and the development of alternative modalities of biofuel production in other countries, making the book of interest to scholars and policy-makers concerned with biofuel and renewable resources as well as economic development._x000D_ Table of contents : - _x000D_
Production of Ethanol from Sugarcane in Brazil.- From State_x000D_
Intervention to a Free Market.- Introduction.- PART 1.- STATE INTERVENTION IN_x000D_
THE SUGARCANE ETHANOL INDUSTRY IN BRAZIL.- State intervention in the chain of_x000D_
production of ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil: its forms and effects on the_x000D_
development of the sector between the 1930s and 1980s.- PART II.- THE GOVERNMENT DISTANCES ITSELF IN THE 1990S:_x000D_
THE BREAK AND THE LEARNING CURVE.- The 1990s: deregulation of the sector.- Organizational_x000D_
changes within the public sphere.- Organizational_x000D_
changes within the private sphere.- Changes related to production and marketing_x000D_
controls on sugar: fixed production levels, crop plans, exports, and the_x000D_
differential collection of the Industrialized Products Tax93.- The marketing of sugarcane and_x000D_
ethanol: changes resulting from deregulation.- Activities of the_x000D_
Inter-Ministerial Council on Sugar and Ethanol during the deregulation_x000D_
process.- Interested parties come to the defense of the sugarcane ethanol_x000D_
industry.- The process of deregulating the sugarcane ethanol industry.- Political determinants of the_x000D_
decision-making processes: the players, their power resources, and the_x000D_
redefinition of their roles in the new institutional environment.- The free_x000D_
market: the profound changes and the new agenda._x000D_