To: RetiredNow who wrote (237932 ) 6/19/2005 3:35:32 PM From: tejek Read Replies (1) | Respond to I don't know if you've seen this recent article. Its frustrating that Brazil is nearly energy independent and we continue to struggle with an serious reliance on imported oil, causing us to make big mistakes in our foreign policy.Brazil's ethanol effort helping lead to oil self-sufficiency Three decades after the first oil shock rocked its economy, Brazil has nearly shaken its dependence on foreign oil. More vulnerable than even the United States when the 1973 Middle East oil embargo sent gas prices soaring, Brazil vowed to kick its import habit. Now the country that once relied on outsiders to supply 80 percent of its crude is projected to be self-sufficient within a few years.Developing its own oil reserves was crucial to Brazil's long-term strategy. Its domestic petroleum production has increased sevenfold since 1980. But the Western Hemisphere's second-largest economy also has embraced renewable energy with a vengeance.Today about 40 percent of all the fuel that Brazilians pump into their vehicles is ethanol, known in Brazil as alcohol, compared with about 3 percent in the United States. No other nation is using ethanol on such a scale. The change wasn't easy or cheap. But 30 years later, Brazil is reaping the return on its investment in energy security while the United States writes checks for $50-a-barrel foreign oil.archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com
