Berlin, Germany - While economic growth forecasts for leading industrial nations are overshadowed by fuel price volatilities, Brazil has taken the lead in a quiet transport revolution, reducing significantly its dependence on foreign oil supplies.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Transport most of Brazil's 20 million cars run already on gasoline mixed with 25 per cent of sugar cane-generated ethanol; and an ever increasing number of new cars in Brazil drive on 100 per cent ethanol.

Alfred Szwarc, energy specialist and adviser to UNICA, the Sao Paulo Sugarcane Agroindustry Union, points out that over the past 30 years, Brazil has been producing ethanol from sugar cane and using it in automobiles across the country. "It is high time that industrialised countries start to use gasoline mixed with ethanol to mitigate their volatility to rocketing oil prices and to help stop global warming," says Szwarc.

Brazil has the capabilities to turn into one of the world's largest bio fuel exporters, as a fleet of ethanol tankers will help to feed the energy-hungry economies of India, China and Korea. Even in the US, with its poor record on climate change, three per cent of the total fuel consumption will be secured through bio fuels in 2005, doubling the green fuels capacity of the world's largest car market from its 1.5 per cent level in 2001.

"Germany has clearly lost the lead in the global clean transport technology race and we have to catch up fast," warns Johannes Lackmann, president of the German Renewables Trade Association.

"We may be still the largest producer of bio diesel, but rather surprisingly German car manufacturers and industry lobbies have put the brakes on clean technology and infrastructure innovation."

Lackmann, who will be speaking at CETEX Germany 2005, the first major energy and transport industry forum following the German general election later this year, comments: "Bio fuels are on average 20 per cent cheaper for consumers than conventional fuels, and energy costs will only stop rising if we replace oil and gas-imported goods in great quantities with renewable fuel sources." Renewable energies in Germany replace already 5.4 million tons of crude oil and 5.3 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year.

Meanwhile, Ernst Ludwig Winnacker, the president of the Deutsche Forschungs Gesellschaft (industry research council), gave a stern warning to the German automobile industry not to miss crucial car innovation trends.

"There are cars in the world which offer the same performance by using only half the amount of gasoline. I find it alarming that German car manufacturers can't supply this technology today," said Winnacker in an interview with the Financial Times.

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