São Paulo to build the first ethanol duct in the world
The technology of using ducts to transport water has been used for centuries; the Jerwan aqueduct, in today’s Iraq, dates back to around 700 b.C.
In Brazil, there are only 20,000 km (12,500 miles) of aqueducts in Brazil, less than the 42,000 km (26,000 mi) in Mexico and much less than the 440,000 km (273,000 mi) in the USA.
However, the ethanol is gaining so much importance in Brazilian economy that Petrobras and the Government of São Paulo 
(São Paulo is the biggest producer of ethanol in Brazil) have signed a joint venture to build the first ethanol-duct in the world.
The ethanol duct would be about 1,150 km ( 715 mi) long. It would link the Southern extreme of the State of Goiás to the Port of São Sebastião in the coast of São Paulo, cutting through the Western end of Minas Gerais and all across the interior of São Paulo (see map).
Trucks will be used to move the ethanol from the mills to large tanks, which will feed the ducts. Pumping stations should be built every 200 km (125 mi) to keep the ethanol flowing, at an average speed of 3.6 km/h (2.2 mi/h). Click the image below to see a scheme of the ethanol duct.
Today, the transportation of alcohol is entirely made by trucks; Petrobras estimates that the duct could move a volume equivalent to the load of 1,000 trucks per day. The duct should be in operation by 2011, at a cost of US$ 1 billion; today, the cost of transportation is about R$ 130 (US$ 75) per 1,000 liters, and should drop to about R$ 40 (US$ 23).