Cablegate: Report On Brazil Workshop On Measurements and Standards For

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SUBJECT: REPORT ON BRAZIL WORKSHOP ON MEASUREMENTS AND STANDARDS FOR
BIOFUELS

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1. (U) Summary: The National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST) co-sponsored with their Brazilian counterpart, the National
Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality
(INMETRO), a workshop entitled, "Measurements and Standards for
Biofuels: Enabling a Transition from Petroleum as Vehicular Energy
Source" to explore cooperation on metrology and standards for
biofuels. The Brazilian presentations were illuminating and shed
some light why the Government of Brazil (GoB) believes a research
partnership in biofuels is to their advantage. The GoB is seeking a
globally-accepted international standard in biofuels to facilitate
trade; partner in scientific research to dispel the myth that
biofuels corrode engines and pipelines and to develop a method of
certifying labs globally to ensure that measurements of biofuels are
based on good science with traceability to national standards. End
Summary

2. (U)The U.S.-Brazil Workshop on Measurements and Standards for
Biofuels, held September 14-15, 2006, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was
the product of two separate bilateral initiatives. Although it was
agreed to as part of the U.S.-Brazil Commercial Dialogue during
Secretary Gutierrez and Minister Furlan meeting on June 6, and its

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importance endorsed in the joint statement issued by the U.S.-Brazil
Ministerial Level Joint Commission Meeting on Scientific and
Technological Cooperation, held in Washington, DC, July 21, 2006, an
important impetus was the Advanced Energy Initiative recently
launched by President Bush, a plan designed to help the U.S. move
beyond fossils fuels dependency by expanding the development of
alternative energy sources.

3. (U)The U.S delegation was headed by Dr. Hratch Semerjian, Chief
Scientist, Office of the Director at NIST and Dr. Willie May,
Director of NIST's Chemical Science and Technology Laboratory. The
13-member U.S. delegation also included
representatives/presentations from the Organization of American
States (OAS),Environmental Protection Agency, Georgia Department of
Agriculture, NIST and ASTM International, an international standards
organization, in addition to the ESTH Counselor from U.S. Embassy in
Brasilia and representatives from Consulates in Rio and Sco Paulo.

4. (U)INMETRO President Joao Jornada, the host, opened by discussing
Brazil's outlook on biofuels as it relates to science and
technology. Jornada said that Brazil's successful use of biofuels
can be credited, primarily, to their native technology that created
the flex fuel engines for automobiles. (Brazil's flex fuel cars can
be run on gasoline, ethanol or ANY combination of the two. Flex fuel
cars were introduced to the Brazilian public in 2003 and today
nearly 70 percent of the new passenger cars sold are flex.)

5. (U)Jornada said that Brazil wants a global standard for biofuels,
a prelude to it becoming a commodity. In order to perform the
measurements related to those standards in secondary laboratories
and industrial locations throughout Brazil, the GoB would like to
partner with the U.S. in the production and certification of the
necessary reference materials.

6. (U)Jornada said Brazil would like to overcome the mistaken belief
by some investors that the use of biofuels in the long term could
have a corrosive effect on engines, motors and pipelines. The GoB is
investing in long term studies to produce scientific evidence to the
contrary.

7. (U)The most enlightening Brazilian presentation came from Dr.
Jose Felix Silva Junior, representative from ethanol-producing giant
Copersucar and UNICA (Sugar AgroIndustry of Sco Paulo, as he
highlighted the challenges facing the Brazil's producers today. The
lack of universal standards heads the list of headaches. As an
example, he displayed a chart showing that The New York Board of
Trade, various countries in Europe, the international standards
organization ASTM and Brazil all have different specifications for
anhydrous ethanol. This has resulted in the Brazilian producer
receiving queries from perspective buyers asking for a product he
cannot produce.

8. (U)Another major problem highlighted is the lack of uniform

BRASILIA 00002066 002.2 OF 002

methods for ethanol analysis. The Brazilians suggested the
establishment of a simple measurement system that can be performed
in almost any laboratory without special equipment and specially
trained technicians. A uniform method of measuring would have
prevented a recent problem encountered by the Brazilians, where the
analysis of the product when shipped was different than the analysis
at the receiving port, resulting in a refused shipment and
litigation in London that lasted for years.

9. (U)Another important issue discussed is the relevance of the
items being measured. Therefore definition of relevant measurements
for determining fuel quality (e.g., calorific value,
anti-corrosiveness, etc) was identified as an issue for future
collaboration. Often in a new product standards are transferred from
another related product with no thought to whether the item being
measured gives added value.

10. (U)INMETRO is working with Brazilian industry to resolve some of
these issues. New equipment is being purchased and training provided
at regional laboratories in measurements and the calibration of
equipment. Further, to prevent an agricultural disease from wiping
out an entire harvest, the Brazilians are experimenting with 535
varieties of sugar cane.

11. (U)Another interesting presentation focused on the agreements
Brazil is signing with other countries. According to Tadeu Aandrade
from the Canavieira Technology Center, the GoB has signed agreements
with countries in Africa, South Asia, Central America and the Middle
East to plant sugar cane in their countries. In one trilateral
partnership with the UK and South Africa, Brazil will share research
and technology with South Africa, with the UK standing ready to buy
all the ethanol South Africa produces. Research agreements are in
the works with Angola and Ghana. India is looking to buy sugar mills
in Brazil. South Korea also wants to buy distilleries in Brazil and
ship the product to their own country.

12. (SBU)Next steps - NIST will discuss internally and with other US
agencies the areas highlighted as topics for future discussion and
possible research collaboration. These areas are: review of
specifications for biofuels and available thermophysical data
relevant to processing and characterization of biofuels,
identification of current and new reference methods and certified
reference materials to improve measurement reliability and critical
evaluation of the field methods for assessing fuel quality at the
production site and delivery site.

13. (SBU)COMMENT: The GoB would like the U.S. to join in taking the
lead on laying out the framework for a science-based system of
measuring and evaluating standards for the numerous varieties of
biofuels that will eventually emerge on the global market. Whether
the biofuel is derived from corn, sugar cane or rapeseed,
establishment of a science-based system of measurements may prevent
future problems like those presently encountered in the area of
GMOs. END COMMENT

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