Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Saturday that he will discuss the issue of biodiesel at his meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush scheduled for next month.

"I think that the main topic will be biofuels," Lula said. Bush is expected to arrive in Brazil on March 9.

Lula said the United States produces a great amount of ethanol from corn, but "it is no good business" producing ethanol from corn, an important livestock feed.

"What we want is to establish a partnership under which Brazil will be able to introduce ethanol made from sugarcane in the American market," he said.

He also said he expected the whole world to be using biodiesel within the next 15 or 20 years.

Lula inaugurated on Saturday a biodiesel plant in the northeast state of Bahia. The plant, with investments of 33 million reais (15.7 million U.S. dollar), is expected to benefit 35,000 families, who provide raw materials for it.

Source: Xinhua