Ethanol – The fuel of the future.

Or so thought Henry Ford when he designed the first Model T Ford to be mass produced to run on anhydrous ethanol.  Perhaps he was misquoted and meant to say ‘the fuel for the future’.  Well the future, at least compared to the days of Henry ford, is with us now and we as consumers are only barely aware of the existence of ethanol as an alternative to the fossil fuel petroleum that has been propelling us since the earliest days of motoring.  But if the technology has always been there; and ethanol offers better environmental protection; and it is cheaper; and it can give better performance than petrol, then why have we not be using it for years?

That could well be an argument for the conspiracy theorists amongst you, but the truth is that the benefits of ethanol over the traditional petrol and diesel alternatives, has been known for some considerable time, and certainly since before any of us knew where smog came from and people started worrying about the environment.  Yet in the US, 100% ethanol is not even approved as a motor vehicular fuel, and is only allowed as an additive to regular gas.

This is the case for much of the rest of the world too.  In Sweden, for example, sales of E85 which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, is being actively pushed by Nordic petroleum giants StatOil and is now available in its 280 filling stations.  In the whole of Sweden there are reported to be a total of over 1200 filling stations with ethanol pumps.  According to Swedish Institute for Transport and Communications Analysis, the number of cars using E85 in 2007 had risen some 74% on the previous year to a total of 80,000 vehicles.  Considering Sweden’s relatively low population of around 9,000,000, these are encouraging noises.  But is it only the environmentally conscious Scandinavians that are so forward thinking?

When one thinks of Brazil, the mind tends to wander to picturing Wales being eaten up by the rain forest.  No, wait.  There is something not quite right with that statement.  It will come to me later.  But it is actually Brazil, with its burgeoning population of nearly 200,000,000 people, that lead the way when it comes to ethanol fueled vehicles through becoming the worlds first sustainable biofuels economy.  In 2008, 50% of all fuel consumption was ethanol based, and the trend is still in the ascendancy after thirty years of gentle Governmental nudging.

It is not all good news for the environmental lobby though.  There have been some serious concerns regarding the manufacture of ethanol and, whether or not it is quite the wonder fuel it purports to be.  There are on-going studies into the carbon footprint it leaves behind it. The initial reports in the worldwide media have not been too kind in this respect, and the sugar cane plantations that fuel Brazil’s strong position in the world of ethanol could be at risk, should green Governments in Europe hear about just how much they are encroaching into the rain forest each year.  Oh, yes.  That would be deforestation on a scale the size of Wales every year.  Sorry!