A 1.4. What do sugar-cane and ethanol represent in Brazils energy base?
The use of ethanol as a fuel in Brazil reached 13.4 million cubic meters in 2006 (production amounted to 17.7 million cubic meters), representing around 40 percent of the fuels used in motor vehicles with spark ignition engines that year. The sugar-cane agribusiness also generated 11.3 TWh of electric and mechanical power (drives), most of which having been consumed by itself (that is equivalent to 3 percent of all the electric power consumed in the country). The use of bagasse as a fuel was 20.2 M toe (tons of oil equivalent). In 2006, Brazil achieved self-sufficiency in oil, producing 1.8 to 1.9 million barrels a day (boe/day). Oil corresponds (2004) to 40.4 percent of the Production of Primary Energy in Brazil, whith a strong share in transportation, industry and non-energy uses. Said self-sufficiency relies on the significant contribution provided by the sugar-cane industry, which reached 14.6 percent of the domestic energy offer (2006). In 2005, the ethanol share was around 160,00
