Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim pleaded day for the opening of markets to commercial bio-fuels and the ending of protectionism against the new source of energy.

"Brazil continues insisting on the potential of the bio-fuel as a tool of economic and social transformation in the poorest countries," Amorim said at the "International Conference on Bio-fuels" in Sao Paulo.

Amorim said more than 100 countries currently have the ability to produce bio-fuel in a sustainable way. However, he said, less than 20 percent of the population in those countries have access to the energy.

"The natural energy would be a way to bring high life quality to the people, reduce the dependence on fossil fuel, generate jobsand reduce emission," Amorim said.

Debates on green fuels and food security are ironic, Amorim said, because the countries most affected by the recent food crisis "never produced a drop of bio-fuel."

"In Brazil, ethanol production grows at the same rhythm of the grain production. The bio-fuel production helped Brazil to grow and become more prosperous. From the point of view of social-economy or the environment, bio-fuel is beneficial," Amorim said.

The International Conference on Bio-fuel, hosted by the Brazilian government, focuses on the role of bio-fuel as a means for sustainable development. The conference will be close Friday.