Brazil has the first ethanol-fired power plant in the world

That's awesome!
I found the US was a little behind in the alternative fuels department... Australia has LPG (liquid petroleum gas) and no it's not gasoline.... It's like a refined propane to put it roughly. It's much cleaner and cheaper.
So my question is why is the so called leader of the western world behind in things like this, especially behind countries like Brazil and Australia?

 The US may be the leader in the free world, but they are largely reliant on the corn industry, and don't have the climate to grow sugar.  In addition, the corn industry is hugely subsidized and they've made it very expensive to import sugar (i think they actually limit the amount that can be imported too).  Since corn ethanol is so inefficient to produce, it hasn't and probably won't catch on here, which is why we see so much hype about hybrids.  I'd like to see diesels come here more, as those truly are more efficient, and can be run on a variety of alternatives that are readily available in the US (such as waste veggie oil).  
Another note: this is the same reason that Coke in places like Brazil and Mexico tastes much better than Coke in the US:  here they use high fructose corn syrup b/c it is so much cheaper here, and there they use proper cane sugar.  If I'm getting a burrito you better bet I'll be grabbing the slighly more expensive glass bottle of Mexican coke :)