Brazil and the Netherlands agreed Friday to work together on the sustainable production of biofuels and to help developing nations establish their own crops to make alternatives to fossil fuels, according to AP. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed a cooperation agreement on the second and last day of his state visit to the Netherlands. Silva was flying to the Czech Republic after an official farewell ceremony at Queen Beatrix's Noordeinde Palace. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen said Brazil, the world's largest producer of ethanol from sugar cane, is well placed to help the European Union meet its target of having biofuels make up 10 percent of fuel needs in the bloc's transport sector by 2020. But he said that the ethanol has to be produced sustainably _ meaning without muscling out food crops or leading to deforestation.
