Brazil has quietly become a leader in the efforts to decrease dependence on fossil fuels.  In doing so, they are providing the world – especially the United States – some ideas and methods that should be taken note of.

First of all, after the fuel crisis in the 1970s Brazil moved forward looking for and acting on solutions. 

One of the solutions is to look at a variety of sources that can be turned into biofuels.  Sugar, various plant oil feedstock, starches (which can be turned into sugar) and oilseeds are all excellent sources.  In addition researchers are looking at which of the thousands of types of algae would be appropriate to produce biofuels.  Also, one more piece of the biofuel puzzle could be the use of animal fat from cattle, pigs, fish and poultry.  At present, there is extensive research regarding the technology needed to be able to use all these sources to create biofuel.

There are already proven and cost-effective technologies available to be able to produce biofuels from sugar crops, starch and oilseeds.  Scientists, researchers and farmers are working to create high yields from these crops.

For commercial transportation there are additional fuels needing additional types of treatment and technology.  To create biodiesel and/or ethanol, government subsidies are needed, and in Brazil and other countries, this is taking place.  For these two types of fuel essential to the transportation industry, there is an extra process that turns them from regular biofuel to biodiesel or ethanol.  This can be lucrative if the technology is efficient enough, and researchers at looking at ways to see how this can all happen. 

Energy economists worldwide are in agreement that biofuel is critical and that “mix biofuels” will be an essential when it comes to powering vehicles.  Bio refineries will be needed to produce the quantities needed, and researchers are working toward developing an effective system of these refineries.

One thing that Brazil did after the crisis in the 1970’s was to shift the major portion of their use of petroleum to bioethanol.  This saved them nearly $50 billion in their oil import bills.  In addition, the change to bioethanol from petroleum created over one million jobs, most of them rural.

With all the conversations regarding alternatives to imported foreign oil for fuel, Brazil’s bold move forward in the late 1970’s through today is important for the world to look at.  Other countries, such as India and  China whose economies are weighed down by high oil import bills would be helped by using ideas similar to Brazil’s, and the United States would definitely benefit by using some of the alternatives and making at least some of the changes that Brazil has made.

The current fuel crisis is affecting everyone from limo drivers on Wall Street to municipal bus systems to individuals simply trying to get to work.  While lawmakers in Washington are grappling with the issue, everyone else is trying to just get through on a daily basis.

Since the warning was not heeded 30 years ago, people are just now having to figure out what to do to conserve fuel and to afford to purchase it.  The problem is that it is much easier to plan in advance than it is to come up with workable solutions once you are in the middle of a crisis.  And since the administration has been denying that there is a crisis up until the recent outcry became deafening, it left people at an even greater loss.  How can you plan for a crisis that the government says doesn’t exist?  Exactly.

Some of the latest victims of the fuel crisis are schools – and the kids that attend them.  Many school districts have had to curtail or eliminate activities that involve transportation. 

Of course, hurricane Ike and all of his previous hurricane relatives have not helped the situation, either, because the supplies of oil have been interrupted in the Gulf.  Even before the hurricanes there were cuts in driving activities.  Now they are mandatory.

One school district has curtailed the driving portion of driver’s education to save fuel.  In addition, there is a moratorium of sorts on field trips.  For now, unless a trip is for an essential athletic event, any other types of field trips are cancelled.

There are serious budget issues involved in these decisions to curtail or eliminate trips.  Busses get about 8 miles per gallon in city traffic and about 10 to 11 miles per gallon on the highway.  When even a small school district transports children it can be up to 7,000 miles per day to transport over 5,000 students, the cost can average about $3000 per day.  This is quite a hardship on districts that struggle with small budgets and are trying to stretch every dollar.

For now, for some school districts, this is the only answer.  Lawmakers are now seriously working on the fuel crisis issues and have finally passed a bill to try to begin fixing the problems.  This is a step in the right direction; however, you can’t fix 30 years of problems that have been ignored, overnight.

In the meantime, schools and other businesses and individuals will continue to have to suffer.  It’s unfortunate that our kids are losing out because it has taken so long to start working on the problem.