The Financial Times reported today that the board of the Inter-American Development Bank is set to approve a 15 year loan of $250M to three new ethanol plants.  Despite the growing environmental concerns about biofuels this will be the biggest development ever by a multilateral intuition.   The new ethanol project will cost over $1bn and will be built by Santa Elisa Vale Do Rosario, a Brazilian company, and US private equity groups.

"Steady rises in the international oil price have spurred interest in green fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel, but initiatives have become increasingly controversial in recent months as a result of steep rises in the prices of grains and other basic foods."

As long as there is an incentive to convert food to fuel expect the trend to continue.