The financial crisis was inevitably invited to the first International Conference on biofuels, held in Sao Paulo from Monday 17 to Friday November 21, tarnishing the diplomatic offensive prepared for many months by the government in Brasilia. Second largest producer of ethanol, Brazil wishes to impose ethanol on the international market, as a green energy feedstock, not a simple agricultural commodity. Brazilian authorities, who tirelessly praise the merits of renewable energy, hoped that this conference could legitimize it in front the 2 000 experts and policy makers from forty countries. During the debate on biofuels and sustainable development, security Food or challenges to the ecosystem, all speakers mentioned their concern about the delicate moment undergone by the global economy.The  financial crisis is not the only factor affecting the prospects for ethanol. Gathered far from the muffled halls of the Conference, one hundred representatives of social movements in Brazil and abroad, have drawn up a list of negative impacts of sugar cane, namely risks related to monocropping.
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http://www.lemonde.fr/archives/article/2008/11/21/l-ethanol-sous-le-feu-de-la-crise-et-des-critiques_1121518_0.html