Bright prospects for second- generation ethanol

The President of Brazil’s Canavieira Research Institute, Gustavo Leite, said second-generation ethanol will have the capability to increase productivity of the biofuel by as much as 60%.”We expect the new fuel to be available in the 2015-16 period during which time production should increase by 30% for the same amount of planted land,” Leite said in an interview published by Unica, Brazil’s sugarcane industry association. According to Leite, the country’s biofuel sector is undergoing a revolution because of advances in the sector. “With further development of the technology these gains could more than double. As far as biotechnology is concerned this is the biggest change the industry has experienced.” Commenting on the continuing decline in sugarcane production which has been attributed to poor climatic conditions, high sugar prices and a lack of government incentives, Leite said, “We urgently need to increase productivity in the sugarcane industry, something that hasn’t happened in the past two decades.” He added, “With the right level of investment in technology we can exploit sugarcane’s great production potential.” (July 23, 2012)