Proalcool Program

The Proalcool Program was launched by the Brazilian government in 1975 in response to the 1973 oil crisis, as a national initiative to substitute imported oil with ethanol fuel distilled from domestically grown sugarcane. The program combined production subsidies for ethanol distilleries, guaranteed purchase prices, and mandates encouraging automakers to build ethanol-only and, later, flexible-fuel vehicles capable of running on any blend of ethanol and gasoline. Although the program's direct government subsidies were scaled back and largely ended by the late 1990s after a period of ethanol shortages had dented public confidence, it left Brazil with an enduring sugarcane ethanol industry and a vehicle fleet built around flex-fuel technology that continues to shape the country's transport fuel market. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/