In Brazil, which is the world’s biggest sugarcane producer, the federal government realized this scenario offered a great opportunity for transforming the country into the world’s biggest ethanol producer and exporter. However several facts relating to global and national aspects reversed the tendency towards increase of domestic consumption and ethanol exports. The aspiration of becoming the world’s biggest ethanol exporter was replaced by the need to import the product to supply domestic demand. A combination of factors boosted ethanol consumption in the domestic market, such as the mandatory blending policies, establishing ethanol as an additive to be blended with pure gasoline, as well as the launching of flex fuel vehicles, which can be fuelled with any mix of ethanol or gasoline.
