MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bio-alcohol fuel for fumigation aircraft.

Embraer the giant Brazilian aircraft manufacturer officially presented this week a prototype of a agriculture fumigation aircraft, “Ipanema” that runs on bio-alcohol.

Empresa Brasileña de Aeronáutica is the world's fourth largest aircraft manufacturer and is trying to convince the Brazilian government to include units that run on sugar cane extracted alcohol in the farming equipment modernization program known as Modrefrota.

"Farmers have great difficulty in financing fumigation aircrafts, and we hope to be included in Moderfrota", said Embraer president Mauricio Botelho.

Although the aircraft still has to be certified by the Brazilian Aviation Agency, Mr. Botlho indicated that Ipanema running of alcohol extracted from sugar cane is 80% cheaper than gasoline.

Embraer invested an estimated one million US dollars in developing an aircraft engine that runs on bio-alcohol and already has 69 orders for the bio-fuel Ipanema which is expected to be operational in the first quarter of 2005.

The Brazilian manufacturer dominates 80% of the country's air fumigation market with sales of over a thousand classic Ipanemas (which run on gasoline).

"If we can stabilize annual sales of the new model in 80/100 units it would be excellent", stressed Mr. Botelho.

The bio-alcohol Ipanema fumigating aircraft costs the equivalent of 267,000 US dollars while the classic fuel model 260,000 US dollars.

Brazil has a long experience and a thriving industry with fuels extracted from sugar cane, dating back to the early seventies when the first world oil shock. At that time Brazil was full dependent on imported fuel.

The country simultaneously and aggressively developed its own oil exploration and production industry with Petrobras that has become a leading company in offshore technology and exploration.