Mexico Pushes Ethanol as a Means to Reduce Pollution

In the western state of Jalisco, 65 000 hectares of sugar cane have been set aside by the Mexican government to be used for biofuel production.

This coincides with the government's invitation for tenders to join a contract that will see 176 million liters of ethanol to be used as transport fuel in an attempt to drastically reduce the country's carbon emissions.

As expected, the move towards biofuels carries a particular concern: land usage for fuel crops instead of food crops.

Mexico has a high poverty rate and many critics have condemned the production of biofuels--especially from corn--when so many are in need of food. In this case, the Mexican government insists it is addressing this concern as it moves ahead.

Finance Secretary Agustin Carstens, for his part, says biofuels production in Mexico does not imperil ecosystems or food security, as several non-governmental organizations – especially concerned over the use of corn, a staple of the Mexican diet – have warned.

“In Mexico, there’s an agricultural zone potentially suited for the production of raw materials for ethanol production, especially sugarcane, sweet sorghum and beets, with no risk to the country’s food security or to jungles, forests and the remaining natural ecosystems,” Carstens said.

Of course the question should be asked, what food security? At best, this new plan stays away from corn and emphasizes crops of lesser food importance. It does nothing to aleviate the critical problem of the country's poverty.

Regardless, the project is being launched after a successful test-run last month in Monterrey, the industrial hub of northern Mexico.

A law to promote and develop the use of biofuels was enacted in 2008 and calls for the production of ethanol from different sources, including algae, sugarcane and corn. The law also permits the use of leftover from sawmills, agro-industrial and urban waste and traditional agriculture and forest residues.

The measure states that biofuels production will put Mexico – a country that must import 30 percent of the gasoline it consumes – on a hopeful path to energy self-sufficiency.