BIOMASS HUB

BBC series profiles sustainable biofuel production in Brazil.  Despite social benefits that include employment and wages for some of Brazil’s poor, human rights violations have been reported in connection with the production of sugarcane for ethanol.

Brazil is the world’s second largest producer of ethanol fuel and the world’s largest exporter.  Brazil is considered to have the world’s first sustainable biofuels economy.  It is based on the most efficient agricultural technology for sugarcane cultivation in the world, which uses modern equipment and cheap sugarcane as feedstock.

While Brazil’s sugarcane production has provided important social benefits to some of the poorest people in Brazil by providing employment with income usually above minimum wage, unhealthy working conditions and even cases of slavery and deaths from overwork (cane cutting) have been reported.

The following BBC series examines the biofuel industry in Brazil with a particular focus on workers involved in sugarcane production.

Part 1 of the series:

Part 2 of the series:

Part 3 of the series:

Image: WaronWant.org