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US, Brazil sign biofuel deal
10/03/2007 14:18 - (SA)
Sao Paulo - Brazil and the United States, the world's largest ethanol producers, on Friday inked a strategic alliance to promote biofuels, declaring the step important for the environment and global security.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim signed the memorandum of understanding to co-operate in promoting ethanol on the sidelines of US President George W Bush's five-nation Latin American tour.
Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva described the pact as significant for both the environment and global security.
"If you're dependent upon oil from overseas, you have a national security issue. In other words, dependency upon energy from somewhere else means that you are dependant upon the decision from somewhere else," Bush said after touring a biofuels depot in Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest industrial hub.
Washington wants to reduce US dependence on the Middle East and other external suppliers of oil and natural gas.
Danger personified by Chavez
The danger of US energy dependence is personified in Latin America by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has wielded his country's massive oil reserves to try to weaken US influence in the region. Chavez, visiting Argentina, led protests against Bush's trip.
The memo maps out bilateral co-operation to promote ethanol on global markets and addresses rules on the transfer of technology to other countries wanting to produce the fuel.
Brazil and the United States want to standardise the definition of ethanol so it can be traded on global markets, the same way oil is traded.
Brazil produces ethanol from sugarcane, while the United States uses corn, and together, they account for 70 percent of the fuel's production. - Sapa-AFP
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