As India debates the ethanol-blending mandate, Brazil's Proalcool programme is being invoked as the holy grail of alternative energy. The narrative is seamless: a developing nation frees itself from the tyranny of global oil shocks by turning its vast sugarcane fields into a domestic fuel pipeline.
But this version of history is incomplete. Environmental historian Jennifer Eaglin's Sweet Fuel: A Political and Environmental History of Brazilian Ethanol provides clues as to why. Eaglin pulls back the curtain on the Brazilian model. In our rush to copy Brazil's homework, let's not read only the first chapter of the Proalcool textbook. It's imperative to also examine the second half: the late-1980s crisis, when Brazil's ethanol-only transport model unravelled under the pressures of falling oil prices, rising sugar prices and supply shortages.
Read more: Fueling Demand: Inside India’s ethanol mobility revolution in reverse
Tech triumphalism suggests that once you build distilleries and mandate the blending, energy security is locked in. But reports reveal the friction of tying a national transport grid to volatile agricultural cycles.
Recent kharif crop coverage data shows a drop in national maize acreage - down nearly 10% nationwide, with steep declines in key producing states like Karnataka (-34%) and UP (-37%). Because maize had emerged as a primary pillar for grain-based ethanol, this crop setback is forcing distilleries to scramble for alternatives. With sugarcane stocks tight, the industry is once again pivoting toward rice to plug the shortfall.
Recently, GoI informed Parliament that between June 2025 and June 2026, FCI dispatched 6.35 MT of rice to ethanol distilleries at ₹2,250-2,320 a quintal - roughly 40% below its average acquisition cost of ₹3,720-3,889. To keep the ethanol pipeline flowing amid farm shortfalls, the state is absorbing fiscal losses by selling foodgrains procured at high MSP to fuel distillers at discounted rates.
Eaglin proves that such vulnerability is systemic, not accidental. By 1985, Proalcool looked like a miracle. Over 95% of all new cars sold in Brazil ran exclusively on pure ethanol. Then, the biological and economic traps snapped shut.
