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Usina da Pedra (factory of stone) near Ribeirao Preto in São Paulo state turns harvested sugarcane into sugar, ethanol, and electricity. Ethanol makes up about half of Brazil’s transportation fuel, and nearly every car built in the country uses flex-fuel technology, enabling it to run on ethanol, gasoline, or any combination of the two. Producing ethanol from sugarcane is far more efficient than corn-based ethanol, yielding two to three times the amount per acre. Moreover, the Usina da Pedra burns the mountain of cane waste produced known as bagasse as fuel to power the factory as well as supply more than a quarter of a million residents with electricity. Usina da Pedra has been in operation since 1931, and now includes some 230 square miles of sugarcane fields. Mechanical harvesters cut the cane without burning, and the fields are fertilized with vinasse, liquid waste from the plant that contains nitrogen and other nutrients. About half the crop goes into ethanol, and the rest produces sugar that is sold on the world market.

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Usina da Pedra (factory of stone) near Ribeirao Preto in São Paulo state turns harvested sugarcane into sugar, ethanol, and electricity. Ethanol makes up about half of Brazil’s transportation fuel, and nearly every car built in the country uses flex-fuel technology, enabling it to run on ethanol, gasoline, or any combination of the two. Producing ethanol from sugarcane is far more efficient than corn-based ethanol, yielding two to three times the amount per acre. Moreover, the Usina da Pedra burns the mountain of cane waste produced known as bagasse as fuel to power the factory as well as supply more than a quarter of a million residents with electricity. Usina da Pedra has been in operation since 1931, and now includes some 230 square miles of sugarcane fields. Mechanical harvesters cut the cane without burning, and the fields are fertilized with vinasse, liquid waste from the plant that contains nitrogen and other nutrients. About half the crop goes into ethanol, and the rest produces sugar that is sold on the world market.

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