President Lula of Brazil writes in the Washington Post on his biofuels partnership with President Bush.

On the eve of his visit to Camp David tomorrow (March 31), Brazilian president Luis Inacio Lula da Silva has penned an op-ed article published in Friday's Washington Post under the title 'Our Biofuels Partnership.'

In the article Lula says the recent biofuels agreement signed during President Bush's visit to Sao Paulo earlier this month is a natural outgrowth from Brazil's long-standing policy of using ethanol to reduce its oil imports.

Don't expect any big news from this follow-up meeting. It's more of  a feel-good, get-to-know-you-better occasion.  Much of the substantive issues were dealt with in São Paulo. What will emerge at Camp David is a general outline of how both countries are structuring their bilateral relations on a surer footing.

The next major moves will be President Lula's statement at the European Biofuel Summit in Brussels in June.  Brazil is hoping for a more integrated global biofuels strategy, focusing on certification for labor, environmental, social and other standards for ethanol production projects. 

In his Washington Post op-ed Lula says the agreement with the US seeks to go far beyond energy security issues.

"...ethanol and biodiesel are more than an answer to our dangerous "addiction" to fossil fuels," he writes. "We aim to set in motion a reassessment of the global strategy to protect our environment. As well as being renewable, biofuels in Brazil are clean and highly competitive; ethanol made from sugar cane leaves no residues, as everything is recycled and the byproducts of its production are used to enrich the soil. Equally important, sugar cane sequesters carbon from the atmosphere, helping to reduce greenhouse gases."

The article also appears to answer critics, including Cuban leader Fidel Castro and Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, who have attacked the use of food crops to make fuel for cars in rich countries. (Castro and Chavez have been careful not to directly attack Lula, who is considered an ally and important trading partner.)

"These alternative energy sources help reduce global dependence on relatively few countries for energy supplies," Lula writes. "The agreement between Brazil and the United States provides for diversifying the production of biofuels through triangular alliances with third countries. This networking can include oil-producing countries interested in blending ethanol or biodiesel into their own fossil-fuel stocks. This is a recipe for increasing incomes, creating jobs and alleviating poverty among the many developing countries where biomass crops are abundant."

But Lula also has a message for the developed world and its protectionist agricultural policies. He writes that in order for biofuels to succeed they must become global marketed commodities.

"This will be achieved only if trade in biofuels is not hindered by protectionist policies. After all, the subsidies provided under America's corn-based ethanol program have spurred an increase in U.S. cereal prices of about 80 percent. This hurts meat and soy processors worldwide and threatens global food security."

Lula also takes the opportunity to answer some of the myths about ethanol production in Brazil, noting that the environmentally-friendly biofuel is not a threat to the Amazon rain forest because the soil there  is unsuitable for growing sugar cane. He also pledges to improve the working conditions of sugar cane cutters.

Click here to read the entire article.

Click here to read my analysis of this curious development of a biofuels relationship between Bush and Lula.

- David Adams