Brazilian researchers see beef and sugarcane ethanol reducing pressure on forests

In Brazil, SciDev reports that researchers have determined that coproduction of sugarcane and beef cattle on the same land can allow expansion of ethanol production without the risk of deforestation. Byproducts from the ethanol production such as molasses, yeast and bagasse could be converted into animal feed, reducing the need for pasture for some of the country 200 million head of cattle. The computer model used to determine the feasibility used the US ethanol and beef industries as a baseline.