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It is widely known that the global economy depends on energy generated from fossil fuels.

However, population growth and increased demand for energy to sustain economic development are exerting great pressure on the world's crude-oil extraction capacity.

Ali forecasts indicate that the rising price of oil in the international market is here to stay. Moreover, it is accepted that the burning of fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, adversely affecting the world climate system.

More than ever, industrialized countries are faced with the challenge of seeking a viable substitute to oil. This has sparked widespread interest in renewable energy sources.

Economic and energy security reasons alone provide incentives to adopt alternative fuels, not to mention the environmental benefits to be reaped from their use. There is scientific evidence that overall C02 emissions from cars using alternative fuels, such as bio-ethanol, are up to 70 percent lower than those of a traditional gasoline-fueled vehicle.

In the field of renewable energy Brazil has a great deal to share. For more than 30 years many Brazilians have been using vehicles propelled exclusively by renewable fuels, including ethanol or ethanol-gasoline blends. This helped Brazil reduce its foreign oil dependency after the oil crisis of the 1970s, and has made Brazilian energy output one of the cleanest in the world.

Experience also shows that in order to make fuel ethanol attractive to both consumers and producers, the leadership and incentives provided by the Brazilian government at the beginning of this process were essential.

Ethanol production in Brazil is now a process driven by the private sector. Brazilian companies have invested in technology and are now able to produce both efficiently and cheaply. In 2005, Brazil produced 20 billion liters of alcohol, making it the largest ethanol producer worldwide.

Furthermore, the development of flex-fuel vehicles that can run on gasoline, ethanol or any blend of the two has increased consumer confidence in biomass ethanol. Today, three out of four cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel vehicles.

Business opportunities in the production, processing and logistics of distributing biomass ethanol are ripe, and have been attracting a great deal of attention. Many international investors are looking closely at partnerships with Brazilian companies. Few people would dispute that Brazil's long experience with using biomass ethanol from sugar cane is a success story.

Many countries have started aggressively studying ethanol-gasoline blends to substitute for gasoline in vehicles, including the United States, Canada, Sweden, India, Australia, South Korea, the Netherlands, Thailand and China.

In a changing environment, these countries are asking the same questions that Brazil has been for decades, questions that are now coming into the mainstream of energy policy-making.

The European Union aims to have bio-fuel make up 5.75 percent of its transportation fuel mix by 2010.

And in his State of the Union address last January, US. President George W. Bush announced the Advanced Energy Initiative, and gave a clear sign about the importance of renewable energy for keeping the American economy competitive on a global scale.

It was not by chance that a recent General Motors advertisement broadcast during the Superbowl put a lot of questions about energy to the public at large. It is interesting to see that this important discussion, previously confined to government and industry experts, is now in the forefront of public concern.

Taking advantage of this mounting interest in renewable fuels, Brazil is currently engaged in the promotion of new markets for ethanol around the world.

Japan is one of the main oil-importing countries, and has shown strong environmental leadership within the framework of international efforts to curb CO2 emissions under the guidelines of the Kyoto Protocol.

Therefore, it is natural to think that Japan would be an ideal partner of Brazilian efforts to promote ethanol.

On the occasion of his visit to Brazil in October 2004, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi had the opportunity to witness, first-hand, the advantages of large-scale ethanol use. He was most impressed with Brazil's production capacity and the technological advances made by the industry.

When Brazilian President Luiz Inacio da Silva visited Japan last year, it was decided the time was right to create a Brazil-Japan Working Group on Biomass with a view to share information on the issue and examine potential bilateral cooperation.

A Brazilian delegation led by Luiz Fernando Furlan, the Minister of Development, Industry and Trade is in Tokyo to conduct top-level discussions about ethanol with Japanese officials and companies on Monday and Tuesday;

We look forward to a positive and encouraging outcome of these talks.

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