Ethanol fuel in Brazil

Six typical Brazilian flex-fuel models from several car makers, popularly called "flex" cars, that run on any blend of hydrous ethanol (E100) and gasoline (E20 to E25)

Brazil is the world's second largest producer of ethanol fuel. Brazil and the United States have led the industrial production of ethanol fuel for several years, together accounting for 85 percent of the world's production in 2017. Brazil produced 26.72 billion liters (7.06 billion U.S. liquid gallons), representing 26.1 percent of the world's total ethanol used as fuel in 2017.[1]

Between 2006 and 2008, Brazil was considered to have the world's first "sustainable" biofuels economy and the biofuel industry leader,[2][3][4][5] a policy model for other countries; and its sugarcane ethanol "the most successful alternative fuel to date."[6] However, some authors consider that the successful Brazilian ethanol model is sustainable only in Brazil due to its advanced agri-industrial technology and its enormous amount of arable land available;[6] while according to other authors it is a solution only for some countries in the tropical zone of Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa.[7][8][9] In recent years however, later-generation biofuels have sprung up which use crops that are explicitly grown for fuel production and are not suitable for use as food.

Brazil's 40-year-old ethanol fuel program is based on the most efficient agricultural technology for sugarcane cultivation in the world,[10] uses modern equipment and cheap sugar cane as feedstock, the residual cane-waste (bagasse) is used to produce heat and power, which results in a very competitive price and also in a high energy balance (output energy/input energy), which varies from 8.3 for average conditions to 10.2 for best practice production.[4][11] In 2010, the U.S. EPA designated Brazilian sugarcane ethanol as an advanced biofuel due to its 61% reduction of total life cycle greenhouse gas emissions, including direct indirect land use change emissions.[12][13]

Brazil has ethanol fuel available throughout the country. Shown here a typical Petrobras gas station at São Paulo with dual fuel service, marked A for alcohol (ethanol) and G for gasoline.

There are no longer any light vehicles in Brazil running on pure gasoline. Since 1976 the government made it mandatory to blend anhydrous ethanol with gasoline, fluctuating between 10% and 22%.[14] and requiring just a minor adjustment on regular gasoline engines. In 1993 the mandatory blend was fixed by law at 22% anhydrous ethanol (E22) by volume in the entire country, but with leeway to the Executive to set different percentages of ethanol within pre-established boundaries. In 2003 these limits were set at a minimum of 20% and a maximum of 25%.[15] Since July 1, 2007, the mandatory blend is 25% of anhydrous ethanol and 75% gasoline or E25 blend.[16] The lower limit was reduced to 18% in April 2011 due to recurring ethanol supply shortages and high prices that take place between harvest seasons.[17] By mid March 2015 the government raised temporarily the ethanol blend in regular gasoline from 25% to 27%.[18]

The Brazilian car manufacturing industry developed flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on any proportion of gasoline (E20-E25 blend) and hydrous ethanol (E100).[19] Introduced in the market in 2003, flex vehicles became a commercial success,[20] dominating the passenger vehicle market with a 94% market share of all new cars and light vehicles sold in 2013.[21] By mid-2010 there were 70 flex models available in the market,[22] and as of December 2013, a total of 15 car manufacturers produce flex-fuel engines, dominating all light vehicle segments except sports cars, off-road vehicles and minivans.[21] The cumulative production of flex-fuel cars and light commercial vehicles reached the milestone of 10 million vehicles in March 2010,[23][24] and the 20 million-unit milestone was reached in June 2013.[25] As of June 2015, flex-fuel light-duty vehicle cumulative sales totaled 25.5 million units,[26] and production of flex motorcycles totaled 4 million in March 2015.[27]

The success of "flex" vehicles, together with the mandatory E25 blend throughout the country, allowed ethanol fuel consumption in the country to achieve a 50% market share of the gasoline-powered fleet in February 2008.[28][29] In terms of energy equivalent, sugarcane ethanol represented 17.6% of the country's total energy consumption by the transport sector in 2008.[30]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference EthanolProd2017 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Budny, Daniel; Sotero, Paulo, eds. (April 2007). "Brazil Institute Special Report: The Global Dynamics of Biofuels" (PDF). Brazil Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved November 22, 2015.
  3. ^ Inslee, Jay; Hendricks, Bracken (2007). "6. Homegrown Energy". Apollo's Fire. Washington, DC: Island Press. pp. 153–155, 160–61. ISBN 978-1-59726-175-3.
  4. ^ a b Larry Rohter (April 10, 2006). "With Big Boost From Sugar Cane, Brazil Is Satisfying Its Fuel Needs". The New York Times. Retrieved April 28, 2008.
  5. ^ "Biofuels in Brazil: Lean, green and not mean". The Economist. June 26, 2008. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  6. ^ a b Sperling, Daniel; Deborah Gordon (2009). "4 Brazilian Cane Ethanol: A Policy Model". Two billion cars: driving toward sustainability. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 95–96. ISBN 978-0-19-537664-7.
  7. ^ Thomas L. Friedman (2008). Hot, Flat, and Crowded. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-374-16685-4. "The author considers that ethanol can be a transport solution for Brazil, but one that only can be replicated in other tropical countries, from Africa to the Caribbean."
  8. ^ Hausmann, Ricardo; Rodrigo Wagner (October 2009). "Certification Strategies, Industrial Development and a Global Market for Biofuels". Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and Sustainability Science Program, Center for International Development, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University. Retrieved February 9, 2010. Discussion Paper 2009-15. "The authors found that for some countries in Central Africa and Latin America ethanol can represent a large industry, at least relative to current exports. The list of the relative importance of biofuels (sugarcane ethanol in particular and replicating the Brazilian production system) is headed by Suriname, Guyana, Bolivia, Paraguay, DR of Congo, and Cameroon. See pp. 5–6"
  9. ^ Mitchell, Donald (2010). Biofuels in Africa: Opportunities, Prospects, and Challenges. The World Bank, Washington, D.C. pp. xix–xxxii. ISBN 978-0-8213-8516-6. See Executive Summary and Appendix A: The Brazilian Experience.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference IADB was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ Macedo Isaias, M. Lima Verde Leal and J. Azevedo Ramos da Silva (2004). "Assessment of greenhouse gas emissions in the production and use of fuel ethanol in Brazil" (PDF). Secretariat of the Environment, Government of the State of São Paulo. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
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  13. ^ Cite error: The named reference GreenMom was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference USP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lei8723 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference Portaria2007 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  17. ^ Cite error: The named reference E18 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference E27 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Luiz A. Horta Nogueira (March 22, 2004). "Perspectivas de un Programa de Biocombustibles en América Central: Proyecto Uso Sustentable de Hidrocarburos" (PDF) (in Spanish). Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 28, 2008. Retrieved May 9, 2008.
  20. ^ William Lemos (November 12, 2007). "Brazil's flex-fuel car production rises, boosting ethanol consumption to record highs". ICIS chemical business. Retrieved May 3, 2008.
  21. ^ a b Francisco Posada; Cristiano Façanha (October 2015). "Brazil Passenger Vehicle Market Statistics: International comparative assessment of technology adoption and energy consumption" (PDF). International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT). Retrieved November 24, 2015. See pp. 3 and 14.
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference ModAvailable was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ "Brasil alcança marca de 10 milhões de carros flex". Veja (in Portuguese). Agência Estado. March 4, 2010. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2010.
  24. ^ "Automakers in Brazil Hit 10M Flex-Fuel Vehicle Mark; Brazilian Sugarcane Association Urges Global Dissemination". Green Car Congress. March 6, 2010. Retrieved March 9, 2010.
  25. ^ Cite error: The named reference BR20miFlex was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  26. ^ Cite error: The named reference BR25miFlex was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference MotoFlex4mi was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ "ANP: consumo de álcool combustível é 50% maior em 2007" (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. July 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 26, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2008 – via Invertia.
  29. ^ Cite error: The named reference 50consumo was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  30. ^ "Balanço Energético Nacional 2009: Ano base 2008" (PDF). Empresa de Pesquisa Energética (in Portuguese and English). Ministério de Minas e Energia do Brasil. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 28, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2010. "Tables 3.6a and 3.6b. Data expressed in energy equivalent (toe). Report is based in 2008 data."