Description

The Study Group on Biofuels, coordinated by the Academics Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz  and João Alziro Herz da Jornada, was created in 2008 with the objective of presenting a general evaluation of the state of the research on Biofuel, focusing on its’ scientific aspects and establishing a proposed agenda for addressing the issue. One of the goals of the group was to elaborate a document which would emphasize the diversity and the local specificities with regards to the capacity of fuel production, specially ethanol from sugar cane; the possibility of Brazil cooperating with other countries for the development of the sugar cane ethanol, as a way of diversifying the suppliers of this fuel in the international scenery. The group was involved in a series of activities, among which the following stand out:

• The preparation of a special session on the role of scientific research in the area of biofuels, which was presented during the International Conference on Biofuel (Biofuel 2008), on November 18, with the presence of several specialists from Brazil, India and England.
• The preparation of the presentation by the president of ABC, Jacob Palis at the meeting of the Academies of the G8+5 in Rome. The group brings together the riches countries plus five nations with emerging economies (South Africa, Brazil, China, India and Mexico) - which happened between the 26th and the 28th of March, in Rome, Italy.
• The preparation of the International Seminar Scientific Issues on Biofuels together with the Intenational Academy Panel (IAP) which took place on the 24th and the 25th of May 2010.

History

In 2008 the Study Group on Biofuels held three meetings with the objective of evaluating the National Competence in the field, situate the most current debates involving biofuel and establish which would be the most adequate approach for the document to be produced. The referred document emphasized the diversity and the local specificities with regards to the capacity of fuel production, particularly of the ethanol from sugar-cane. The possibility of Brazil cooperating with other countries for the development of the production of ethanol from sugar cane, as a way of diversifying the suppliers of this fuel in the international scenery, will still be thought about. Among the activities carried out to assist in the elaboration of the document, there was the preparation of a special session about the role of scientific research during the International Conference on Biofuels, with specialists from Brazil, India and England. In 2009, members of the study group and academics were present in the G8+5 meetings. The so called "brain drain" (the exiting of qualified people due to the lack of opportunities) and the need for renewable energy due to the climatic changes were the main focus of the discussions at the meeting. Em 2009 membros do grupo de estudo e acadêmicos estiveram presentes no encontro G8+5. In the year of 2010, the Academic Carlos Henrique de Brito Cruz published the article in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper highlighting the importance of Brazil in the debate held by the Global Biofuel Sustainability project, seeing that no other industrialized country managed to substitute the use of gasoline in the scale achieved in our country. The group helped organize a free event about scientific issues involving biofuels, which occurred at the headquarters of FAPESP - one of the organizers of the event together with ABC and IAP - on the 24th and 25th of May 2010, and which counted with the participation of scientists from several countries. The Workshop: Scientific Issues on Biofuels gathered scientists from Brazil and members of the study group, aside from representatives from South Africa, from India, from Mexico, from the USA, from Canada, from Holland and from England, in a rich debate about the experiences of the several countries in the science of alternative energies and their respective public policies.