Author: Vanessa Bauzá 

Source:  South Florida Sun-Sentinel 

The plan would capitalize on Florida's strong trade ties with Latin America while stimulating ethanol production here, as well as in Central America and the Caribbean.

"A market that's regional in scope will promote Florida's gateway of the Americas status," said Brian Dean, executive director of the Miami-based Interamerican Ethanol Commission. "We'll be able to expand our trade relationships with the Caribbean, Central America and the hemisphere. We could serve as a transshipment point. There is a strong research and development component that our institutions can participate in."

Before the president's arrival Thursday night in São Paulo, South America's largest city, police clashed with students, environmentalists and left-leaning Brazilians protesting Bush and his push for an ethanol energy alliance with Latin America's largest nation.

Students also lobbed rocks and homemade explosives called potato bombs at riot police on a university campus in the Colombian capital of Bogotá, where Bush is set to visit Sunday.

The proposed ethanol alliance between the U.S. and Brazil shares many of the goals of the Interamerican Ethanol Commission, founded by former Gov. Jeb Bush, the president's brother, and Brazil's former Minister of Agriculture Roberto Rodrigues.

Next month Dean will begin what he calls a regional "road show" to tout the benefits of renewable fuels and encourage governments in Latin America to create incentives for their use. "The point we are trying to make is there is room at the table for anyone," said Dean. "The scale we are talking about ... is such that no single country is going to be able to produce enough."

Florida has lagged behind Midwestern states that produce corn-based ethanol and make it widely available at service stations. Florida has no ethanol fuel plants, though several are slated for construction and the first set to open at the end of the year. Only one fueling station in Tallahassee offers E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

But ethanol enthusiasts hope that will soon change. Gov. Charlie Christ last month recommended the state spend $50 million to develop renewable energy. Also, eight Florida organizations were awarded $15 million in state grants last month for a range of initiatives, from solar power to producing fuel from orange and grapefruit pulp and rinds.

"Florida is the fourth most populous state in the union. We're third in the country in terms of our per capita use of energy, so this is a good market for renewables," said Tommy Boroughs, chairman of the Florida Energy Commission, which will make recommendations to the Legislature by the end of the year to develop alternative energy sources.

Palm Beach County is a leader in the production of sugar cane. Though it is more efficient to produce ethanol from cane than corn, Florida growers have been reluctant to enter the biofuels market because federal subsidies create higher profits for sugar than ethanol.

Many Caribbean and Central American nations have centuries-old sugar cane industries that have struggled to remain competitive. At the same time they rely on imported diesel fuel to power cars and produce electricity. Brazil's model of sugar-based ethanol could provide a win-win solution for developing nations seeking to create jobs while reducing their vulnerability to volatile oil prices.

A renewable energy partnership between the U.S. and Brazil also could offset Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's increasing influence. Venezuela has the largest oil reserves outside the Middle East. Chavez has used his oil revenues to fund aid packages and extend agreements for low-cost financing for oil to at least 17 countries across the region, most notably Cuba.

"When you buy your petroleum from Chavez you don't create new jobs. When you create a renewable energy industry you create opportunities and empower the poor," said Johanna Mendelson Forman, a senior associate with the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "The search for reliable renewable energy sources that the United States depends on is moving south. Florida can set a model to bring together north and south in an area that's critical."