Mexico to issue first ethanol project permits; sorghum, yucca, beets eyed as feedstocks

In Mexico, the national government is close to issuing permits for ethanol produced from beets, yucca and sorghum, according to the energy ministry. Mexico has recently implemented a law supporting the farming of renewable fuel crops; however the country has taken steps to distance its approach from controversial corn and sugar ethanol practices in the United States and Brazil.

Last year, President Calderon vetoed the Mexican biofuels bill, saying that it places too much emphasis on corn and sugarcane feedstocks. Mexico has been the subject of protects over the rising price of sweet white corn and the resulting impact on tortilla prices. The President called for a bill that placed more emphasis on algae and cellulosic biofuels. The President also said that the Ministry of Energy should be responsible for fuel production, transportation and marketing, instead of the Ministry of Agriculture.
Last month, as many as 100,000 farmers took to the streets in Mexico City to protest the end of corn tariffs, saying that the United States would put Mexican corn out of business. On January 1, tariffs on sugar, milk, beans and corn were eliminated under the NAFTA agreement. The US sugar industry and Mexican corn industry are considered to face the greatest risk from this round of tariff eliminations. Last year, food riots erupted in Mexico over the rising price of white corn, which is produced primarily by Mexican producers for the domestic market.

Last year’s protests in Mexico sparked the “food vs. fuel” debate over ethanol.

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