Cosan is a Brazilian company that is on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker CZZ. They are the largest ethanol producer in Brazil. Sugar-cane-produced ethanol, unlike the corn-based ethanol we produce in the US, has a much more favorable output to input ratio. Corn-based ethanol produces 1.3-1.4 gallons of ethanol for every gallon of diesel. With sugar-cane based ethanol, that ratio is 8 to 1. With such a higher yield, the production costs are much lower and efficiency is much higher.
A new way to create cellulosic ethanol, which is one of the more promising biodiesel power fuels for reducing harmful greenhouse emissions, has been developed in California. It reduces the amount of corn and other valuable sources needed for it. It recently left the lab-testing stage, and each of the individual steps of the process have been adequately tested, so that the company saw a testing plant in 2008 and delivery to market in 2009. However, no company has reached full production phase. Iogen in Canada is furthest along; it is building a 40 million gallon plant.
