Originally posted by sardion2000
Very interesting article in Wired about the Brazillian Renewable fuel Boom. Apparently 43.8 % of it's power comes from renewable sources like, hydro,
ethanol and biodiesel.
www.wired.com...
This ethonol comes from sugar cane which has a high energy density then corn (makes sense)
I'm guessing that sugar cane, like corn, is petro dependent. I'm also guessing Brazil gets by because per capita use of cars is still considerably
less than in the US (as well as per capita energy consumption). In fact given endemic poverty in Brazil, I'd say that it is likely that a great deal
of the Brazillian population doesn't have much access to energy--renewable or not. It isn't a big challenge to power half of your energy with
renewables when you're leaving a lot of people out of the equation.
The hydro comes from building dams on Amazonian rivers. So great, its renewable, but they're screwing up their ecosystem.
In any event, good for Brazil, the right idea, but probably a little bit too late in the game to save themselves. Overpopulating an area without a
lot of good agricultural land is usually a bad idea renewable energy or not.
