In 1976, Brazil’s government, reeling from high oil prices after the OPEC oil embargo, ordered all gasoline to be blended with ethanol produced from sugarcane and initiated a biofuels movement that spread elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean. Today, nearly four decades later, Brazil is the world’s largest exporter of fuel ethanol, Argentina ranks after Indonesia as the second largest exporter of biodiesel—in Argentina’s case made from soybeans—and other nations in the region are racing to catch up. Twelve Latin American and Caribbean nations, including Brazil and Argentina, currently impose mandates and targets for blending gasoline and diesel with biofuels to stimulate domestic biofuel demand. Most of them also offer generous tax exemptions and subsidies. As a result, Latin America and the... [Log in to read more]