The ORNL study, part of a larger Department of Energy project, focused on the importance of Brazil's sugarcane industry in world trade in fuel ethanol.

ORNL researchers projected that Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and members of the Caribbean Basin Initiative could produce enough feedstock for more than 30 billion gallons of ethanol annually by 2017.

Researchers said about 40 percent of the projected supply is based on the potential of new technology to produce advanced biofuels from cellulosic feedstock that uses residues and forestry byproducts.

"Current feedstock production, based on traditional crops such as sugarcane, soybeans and palm oil, has the potential to double or triple by 2017 in some cases," said researcher Gbadebo Oladosu.

The results suggest that a larger portion of U.S. fossil fuel imports that now come from Africa and the Middle East could be replaced by the renewable biofuels.

"The potential for future biofuel feedstock production in Latin America offers interesting opportunities for the U.S. and developing nations," ORNL researcher Keith Kline said.

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