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SCOTT JAGOW: Ever since his State of the Union speech, President Bush has been pushing the ethanol thing pretty hard. He’s visited biofuel labs. He hosted a car demonstration at the White House. And this week, he heads for Brazil, the ethanol capital of the world. From the Americas Desk at WLRN, Dan Grech reports.

DAN GRECH: The U.S. and Brazil are the world’s two largest ethanol producers, and together they’re hoping to usher in a new era of ethanol diplomacy, capable of countering the oil cartel.

Journalist David Adams writes a blog on alternative energy called The Fueling Station.

DAVID ADAMS: Brazil and the United States would like to make ethanol like gasoline. They want the whole world to understand what ethanol is, what its value is and how it should be traded.

Brazil, along with countries in the Caribbean and Central America, make ethanol from sugar.

It’s cheaper than the corn-based ethanol made in the U.S., but the U.S. imposes a 54-cent tariff on Brazilian ethanol.

President Bush and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva are expected to ink a biofuels cooperation agreement during a second meeting at the end of March.

I’m Dan Grech for Marketplace.