California On A Mission: Exploring Brazil's Renewable Energy Economy

Clockwise from top left: Experimental field at the IAC Sugar Cane Research Center (L-R: Steve Shaffer (CDFA), Rahul Iyer (PrimaFuel), Ernie Shea (25x'25), Dan Pellisier (Cal-EPA), Harrison Pettit (Pacific Ethanol), Eric Stein (CDFA), Craig Elmore (Imperial Bio Resources) Gregory Pal (LS9), Candy Hansen (CITD), Jonnalee Henderson (CDFA) and Rafael Nieves (BBI); mature cane field ready for harvest; COSAN sugar cane ethanol mill, one of the world's largest; Rio de Janeiro beach scene near Brasil EcoDiesel Indústria and the Petrobras Bioenergy Center; and trucks loaded with harvested cane for the COSAN ethanol plant
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Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and using California's forests, farms and ranches to provide the energy needed to fuel our state. To this end, the California Department of Food and Agriculture, in partnership with the California Center for International Trade Development (CITD) led a team of 11 delegates on an energy trade mission to Brazil, a country that generates 43.8 percent of its power from renewable energy sources, including hydroelectricity, biomass electricity, fuel ethanol and biodiesel.

"The Brazil trade mission enabled us to see that our vision for a fuel economy based on renewable resources is within our reach," said A.G. Kawamura, Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

With Brazil recently becoming completely energy independent and relying on a booming ethanol industry, the mission delegates from California met with industry leaders, university researchers and government officials to hear and see first-hand the technical, economic, social, political and environmental issues surrounding renewable energy in Brazil.

California delegates included state department representatives from CDFA and Cal EPA as well as business leaders from Pacific Ethanol, the 25x'25 Coalition, PrimaFuel, CITD, Imperial BioResources, BBI International and LS9, Inc. (a renewable petroleum company). Delegates came back with the insights, experience and contacts needed to move forward with a bold vision for California's energy economy.