Brazilian president promotes biofuel in Europe
The Brazilian president has begun his European tour to promote Brazil’s biofuel industry.
Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva – better known as Lula – landed in Finland yesterday and will then head to Sweden, Denmark, Norway and finally Spain, where he will meet with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez and King Juan Carlos.
Accompanied by 50 industrialists, Lula hopes to sign biofuel agreements with the Nordic countries and increase its export to Sweden, which aims to switch all vehicles to biofuel by 2020.
The Latin-American nation is currently the world’s biggest ethanol exporter and promotes sugarcane-based fuel as a cheap, economic friendly alternative to fossil fuels.
Brazil’s minister for external relations, Maria Fontenele Reis said of Sweden: “They’re going to need a growing amount of biofuel – something they won’t be able to produce themselves on a grand scale.”
Trade between Brazil and Nordic nations has increased by 80 per cent since 2003, according to the Foreign Ministry.
