Brazil’s National Petroleum Agency reported this week that ethanol sales topped gas sales for the first time ever last year. The record reflects a major upswell in ethanol sales in Brazil over the past year, up 44.9 % over 2007.

Cane ethanol sells for half the price of fossil fuel gasoline in Brazil, giving drivers ample incentive to fuel up with the domestically produced cane ethanol. Currently, Brazilians pay around US$2.38/gallon at the pump for ethanol compared with US$4.05 for gasoline.

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This past Friday, the U.S. company Pure Biofuels opened up a new biodiesel plant in Lima, Peru. It plans to produce 52 million gallons of biodiesel next year, about 35% of which will meet Peru’s internal demands for the alternative fuel. The rest will be exported. The plant has the capacity to increase its production threefold, and hopes to eventually produce 156 million gallons of biodiesel per year. Production has yet to start at the new plant, but will later this year.

The new plant is only the second to open its doors in Peru. The other biodiesel plant opened in January and will produce about 48 million gallons each year. So with biodiesel on the rise, could this be the start of a new energy boom coming out of Peru? It is difficult to know.

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