National Geographic News, Reporting Your World Daily

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Photo: Ethanol Production Could Be Eco-Disaster, Brazil's Critics Say


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Sugarcane plants wave in the breeze on the African island nation of Madagascar.

Brazil has been using sugarcane to produce ethanol—a biofuel that could help mitigate human dependence on fossil fuels—for 30 years. Officials there say their program could serve as a model for sustainable energy in developing countries.

But some environmentalists caution that expanding agriculture to produce ethanol threatens habitat in some of the world's most biodiverse regions.

Photograph by Robert Sisson/NGS