Ethanol...how brazil gave the stink eye to OPEC

Since we are whining about goverments be evil, etc...this might interest some of you:

Bumper Crop
As Brazil Fills Up on Ethanol,
It Weans Off Energy Imports
After Years of State Support,
Use of Cheap Fuel Made
From Sugar Is Widespread
U.S. Delegations Pay a Visit
By DAVID LUHNOW and GERALDO SAMOR
Staff Reporters of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
January 9, 2006; Page A1

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- After nearly three decades of work, Brazil has succeeded where much of the industrialized world has failed: It has developed a cost-effective alternative to gasoline. Along with new offshore oil discoveries, that's a big reason Brazil expects to become energy independent this year.

To see how, take a look at Gildo Ferreira, a 39-year-old real-estate executive, who pulled his VW Fox into a filling station one recent afternoon. Instead of reaching for the gasoline, he spent $29 to fill up his car on ethanol made from sugar cane, an option that's available at 29,000 gas stations from Rio to the Amazon. A comparable tank of gasoline would have cost him $36. "It's cheaper and it's made here in Brazil," Mr. Ferreira says of ethanol. If the price of oil stays at current levels, he can expect to save about $350 a year.


At current prices, Brazil can make ethanol for about $1 a gallon, according to the World Bank. That compares with the international price of gasoline of about $1.50 a gallon. Even though ethanol gets less mileage than gasoline, in Brazil it's still cheaper per mile driven. As a result, ethanol now accounts for as much as 20% of Brazil's transport fuel market. The country's use of gasoline has actually declined since the late 1970s. The use of alternative fuels in the rest of the world is a scant 1%.

Yet countries wanting to follow Brazil's example may be leery about following its methods. Military and civilian leaders laid the groundwork by mandating ethanol use and dictating production levels. They bankrolled technology projects costing billions of dollars, despite criticism they were wasting money. Brazil ended most government support for its sugar industry in the late 1990s, forcing sugar producers to become more efficient and helping lower the cost of ethanol's raw material. That's something Western countries are loath to do, preferring to support domestic farmers.

With government support, sugar companies and auto makers' local units delivered cost-saving breakthroughs. "Flexible fuel" cars running ethanol, gasoline or a mixture of both, have become a hit. Car buyers no longer have to worry about fluctuating prices for either fuel because flex-fuel cars allow them to hedge their bets at the pump. Seven out of every 10 new cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel.

Brazil is also fortunate that sugar is the cheapest way to make ethanol and Brazil has the right conditions for growing the crop -- plenty of land, rain and cheap labor.

Despite these unique circumstances, Brazil's efforts are being closely followed by countries with big fuel bills. India and China have sent a parade of top officials to see Brazil's program. India, the world's second-biggest sugar producer behind Brazil, mandated in 2003 that nine of its states add a 5% ethanol mixture to gas. The Brazilian unit of Germany's Volkswagen AG, the first car maker to introduce a flex-fuel model in Brazil, has received 38 delegations from more than a dozen countries in the past year alone, VW officials say.

Brazil says its ethanol exports will likely double to $1.3 billion in 2010 from $600 million in 2005, largely to Japan and Sweden. These countries hope using ethanol -- which releases less carbon dioxide than fossil fuels -- will help them meet their obligations under the Kyoto Protocol to cut emissions.

The U.S., which currently imports 60% of its oil, is watching Brazil's progress, too. Three members of the Senate Energy Committee recently visited, and Sen. Hillary Clinton has cited Brazil as a role model in cutting dependence on imported oil. When President Bush made a recent stop-over in Brasilia, Brazilian leader Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hosted a barbecue and described to Mr. Bush how the country has reduced its oil import bill, according to Brazilian officials at the meeting.

The most recent U.S. energy bill, signed into law in August, calls for more than doubling ethanol use by 2012. But U.S. ethanol, which is made from corn, costs at least 30% more than Brazil's product, in part because the starch in corn must be first turned into sugar before being distilled into alcohol. It may take the U.S. a few more decades to bring the cost of ethanol down to 80 cents a gallon -- equivalent to Brazil's most efficient producers -- according to the U.S. Department of Energy. U.S. trade barriers make Brazilian ethanol and its sugar expensive to buy.

Using carbohydrates instead of fossil-fuels to run cars is not a new idea. Henry Ford's first car was made to run on ethanol. So was the first spark-ignition car engine, developed by German Nicolas Otto in the second half of the 19th century. During World War II, the U.S., Brazil and other nations relied on ethanol to extend gasoline supplies. In the postwar period, however, gasoline was so plentiful and cheap that ethanol lost its allure.

'Strategic Challenge'

The first oil shock in 1973, sparked by an oil embargo amid war in the Middle East, rekindled interest. Months after Syrian and Egyptian tanks rolled into Israeli-held territory, the price of oil quadrupled. Few places were hit harder than Brazil, which imported 80% of its fuel at the time. Within months, Brazil's economy slid into recession. About 40% of its foreign-exchange income was used to import oil.

"We faced a clear strategic challenge: How would we develop without oil?" recalls Eduardo Pereira de Carvalho, a finance ministry official at the time who now heads the São Paulo state sugar-growers' federation.

In 1975, Brazil's military leader, Gen. Ernesto Geisel, ordered that the country's gasoline supply be mixed with 10% ethanol, a level Brazil steadily raised to 25% over the next five years. That meant the same amount of gasoline would last longer. It also allowed Brazil to pay for fuel with local currency, in the form of payments to farmers.

To help the nascent industry, the government gave sugar companies cut-rate loans to build ethanol plants and guaranteed prices for their product. Sugar companies were delighted with the new market, which helped when prices were low. The government also funded Urbano Ernesto Stumpf, an ethanol researcher at a Brazilian Air Force laboratory, who was developing a car that would run on ethanol alone.

In November 1976, three ethanol-powered cars created by Mr. Stumpf -- a Beetle, a Dodge and a Brazilian car called a Gurgel -- embarked on a 5,000 mile trip from the air force's research lab in the southeastern state of São Paulo to the northern city of Manaus in the heart of the Amazon. The trip, christened "The National Integration Rally," aimed to demonstrate to Brazilians that ethanol really worked. When the government ordered state-owned companies to test ethanol engines in their fleet, the São Paulo state telephone company converted 400 gasoline cars into ethanol ones. They displayed the logo: "Powered by Alcohol."

After the 1979 Iranian revolution caused the world's second oil-price shock, Brazil sped up its efforts, initiating what became known as the Proalcool program. In Brazil, ethanol is called "alcool" (pronounced OWL-coal).

Brazil's new leader, Gen. Joao Baptista Figueiredo, ordered sugar companies to ramp up production. He also required state-run oil giant Petrobras to make the fuel available at filling stations. Car companies received tax breaks to get ethanol-powered vehicles into showrooms. By the end of the year, Italian car maker Fiat SpA was offering an ethanol-only car for sale. Within a year, every foreign and domestic auto company in Brazil had followed suit.

Big Hit With Consumers

The cars were hard to start on cold mornings because ethanol burns at a higher temperature than gasoline. Creating a fuel with 10% ethanol makes little difference to a car's performance, but anything above that, researchers have found, can cause problems. The mixture can corrode metal engine parts because of its high water content, for example.

Nonetheless, the cars were big hits with consumers, largely because government price supports made the fuel 35% cheaper than gasoline at the pump. Ethanol also helps acceleration, an advantage in a country where Formula One racing is a national passion. By 1983, nine out of every 10 new cars sold in Brazil ran on ethanol alone.

While motorists grew fond of the made-in-Brazil fuel, there was a cost in the form of hefty government subsidies. Consulting firm Datagro, which counts Brazil's biggest sugar companies as its clients, estimates that Brazil spent at least $16 billion in 2005 dollars from 1979 to the mid-1990s on loans to sugar companies and price supports. The Datagro estimate doesn't include foregone revenue from tax breaks as well as other costs to consumers.

In 1986, after civilians replaced generals in Brazilian politics, the world price of oil plunged, endangering the government's pledge to keep the price of ethanol below that of gasoline. In the following years, the country was battered by hyperinflation, prompting the International Monetary Fund and other creditors to urge Brasilia to rein in spending. In 1989, President Jose Sarney started cutting ethanol price supports. Sales of ethanol cars plummeted and some Brazilians felt the entire experiment had been a waste.

But the ethanol market never dried up entirely, thanks largely to the decades of groundwork. Sugar companies continued to make the fuel and learned how to cut costs, encouraged by a state requirement that all gasoline be mixed with ethanol. Gas stations still offered the fuel, which is taxed at just nine cents a liter compared with about 42 cents a liter for gasoline, according to World Bank estimates.

While other countries were busy mapping the human genome, Brazilian scientists at the Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira, a research lab funded by sugar growers, were decoding the DNA of sugar cane. That helped them select varieties that were more resistant to drought and pests and yielded more sugar content.

The center is located in the heart of Brazil's sugar country, about two hours drive from São Paulo. Giant satellite images of sugar fields help researchers identify which variety will grow best in which part of the country, where to locate new fields and the best time to harvest. Over the past 20 years, the center has developed some 140 varieties of sugar, which has helped lower growing costs by more than 1% a year, according to Jaime Finguerut, the center's director of ethanol research.

Other improvements include using remains of processed cane to power sugar and ethanol plants, and using industrial waste from ethanol production to fertilize sugar fields. As a result, the productivity of Brazil's ethanol producers has steadily increased. In 1975, Brazil squeezed 2,000 liters, or about 520 gallons, of ethanol from a hectare, or nearly 2.5 acres, of sugar cane. Today, it's nearly 6,000 liters.

As gasoline prices soared in recent years, ethanol rebounded. By 2002, its price was again competitive with gasoline and old ethanol-only cars started recovering their prestige. Last year, thieves stole an ethanol-only, 1994 Ford Royale, owned by Francisco Baccaro Nigro, one of the engineers who helped develop ethanol-only cars. "I'm sure it's because ethanol is cheaper," Mr. Nigro says. "Thieves know this."

One last step remained. Some consumers were leery of buying ethanol cars because they weren't convinced the fuel would remain cheaper than gasoline.

A Cheaper Device


Fernando Damasceno, chief engineer at the Brazilian unit of Italian car parts company Magneti Marelli, thought the solution was to create cars that ran on either fuel equally well. Ford Motor Co. had offered flex-fuel cars in the U.S. since 1991 but the Brazilians thought its flex-fuel device expensive and cumbersome.

Mr. Damasceno created a cheaper device by programming a standard car computer to constantly calculate the mixture of ethanol versus gasoline in the tank and adjust the engine accordingly. In 2002, the team sold the device to Volkswagen, which introduced its flex-fuel Gol the next year. Mr. Damasceno's black box is now sold by five major car makers in Brazil. Even Ford's Brazil unit uses the Damasceno device.

In Ford's newest ad in Brazil, an indecisive young boy can't decide between a pair of brown and red shoes. As a teenager, he can't pick between a blonde and a brunette at a party. The ad ends with the young man pulling up to a gas station in his Ford Ecosport. The attendant asks: "Alcohol or gasoline?" The man, happy he doesn't have to choose, raises two fingers, signifying both

 

Up here we have 85 percent ethanol fuel readily available (brand name e85). The problem is it is only a few pennies cheaper than gasoline and it does get worse milage than regular unleaded by about 20 percent(personal experience).So it actualy cost more to run your car on it than gas. On a lighter note I did run several tanks thru the a model a a couple of weeks ago when gas over 3 bucks a jug, and it loved it . Ran better, no spark knock(110+ octane), but it did idle about 3-4 hundred rpms slower. Just some extra input.
Shane T.

 

Thanks for read, good stuff!! do you know what's the octane level?

 

Not if the engine is set up for it. What you have is a computer retarding the timing and increasing the fuel to run an engine designed for petroleum on E85. An engine set up for E85 from the get go get's just about the same mileage as a petroleum engine and runs tons cleaner to boot....

 

Been driving my Ranger for almost a year on E85. It runs smoother, no detonation now, it has more power and the mileage is basically the same as with unleaded. I paid 1.70 yesterday vs 2.29 for unleaded.

I am going to design my Model A so I can run E85.

 

All six-banger articles I've ever read suggest running Ethanol... our local farmers love us to run it (grain and corn profit)... it's cheaper here by up to 10cents/gal... and all my small cylinders love it. I can tell when the wife doesn't fill up with it. Starts easier, keeps moisture out of the system, and I've noticed little to no mileage difference.

But I'm no Brazillian

 

what needs to happen in order for this to work?

you have been running e85 in a Ranger for almost a year, are there any drawbacks?

 

Drawbacks? It is only available at two stations here in town. No biggie, I use less gas now that I budget my trips and my fill ups based on the schedule of the small mom n pop station I go to. For the record, I could fill up all over Minneapolis last week while up there.

As for my A, I am going to set it up like an alky mill. Slightly higher compression, larger jets, stainless lines with high quality hoses. Looking at options for the fuel delivery and ignition at this time. Some of which is HAMB ok and some is rather non trad. I am a couple years away from actually driving this thing, lots of time to learn! BTW, the stuff we get here is 110 octane!!!!!!!

 

I wish I could find E85 around here - until today I had assumed that it wouldn't vaporize well enough in the cold Michigan winter, but if they sell it in South Dakota... I know the local Wesco stations have some alcohol in the mix, but they still only offer 92 octane at the most. I'm sure my 327 would love some 110 octane!

 

You can get more power out of an e85 engine if its built for e85. High compression, and a short cam, and lots of ignition lead make a very torquey engine - and hp is just a function of torque and RPM. A turbo or supercharger works awesome with e85 also.

Its also very forgiving if you make a tuning error.

 

Don't be fooled by the hype. It takes 1/3 more volume of alcohol to equal BTU from equal amount of gasoline, making alcohol cost a lot more than gasoline. Gas is still cheap here in the US, compared to the rest of the world, it'd have to go and stay over $4 a gallon to compare........Brazil's economy is in shambles, un-employment is at a new high, wages are starvation. They don't have to worry about illegals taking the jobs, either, because nobody wants....yata, yata, yata, yata.........

 

1. Don't be fooled by the hype. It takes 1/3 more volume of alcohol to equal BTU from equal amount of gasoline, making alcohol cost a lot more than gasoline. Gas is still cheap here in the US, compared to the rest of the world, it'd have to go and stay over $4 a gallon to compare........Brazil's economy is in shambles, un-employment is at a new high, wages are starvation. They don't have to worry about illegals taking the jobs, either, because nobody wants....yata, yata, yata, yata.........

 

Hey man, my truck was designed for it and really does work better on E85. I can see issues like Zman said with cars that werent made for E85. The thing always had pinging and detonation issues with 89 or 92 octane. Hell, E85 even SMELLS cleaner!

 

we have ethanol in petrol here, but I dont know much about it. my daily driver is on LPG ( liquid petrolium gas) think like the gas you run your bbq on. I have had my ute on this for over 10 years now. the best thing is the cost.


it costs me about $30-35 to fill and that lasts me about 3-4 weeks of my normal driving.in petrol it would be over twice that. LPG or as it is refered to here as 'gas' is currently about 49 cents a litre or $1.96 a US gallon compaired with petrol at $1.14 litre or $4.56 a US gallon.

Ford here in Australia actually offer a dedicated motor for gas so you can purchase your car to run soley on gas. Most of the set ups, like mine are 'dual fuel' so you can switch between gas and petrol, which is great for trips as you can travel about twice as far without having to fill up for me that would be about 700 mi.

but I must admit, there is something about being able to say you run you car on alcohol

 

I was talking about the economy hype. If you want to pay more for go-juice, use ethanol. As far as running good, get a mechanic, any car can be made to run good on gasoline.....

 

I've been following E85 and biodiesel for some time. I don't understand why our leadership won't start implementing these fuels now, even on a limited basis. Oh wait, I know why $$$$$$$...

Ever wonder how much suburban sprawl would be stopped if we went to an "in house" energy source like E85/biodiesel?

I think MI has places to buy B20, which is 80/20 Diesel/bio. Something about helping the little guy farmers who grow soybeans out. Hell, even Willie Nelson is on the bandwagon!

Jay

 

You must work in the Petroleum industry?

Think about it, a car cant be optimized for BOTH types of fuel. My Ranger came from the factory as a Flex fuel vehicle. Alky needs higher compression to run optimumally. The car always had detonation issues with unleaded. The computer can control fuel delivery and ignition but wont be able to mess with compression and other details. The truck RUNS FUCKING BETTER AND I SPEND LESS! Like I said, I have a year with E85 and it works.

 

Actually don't be fooled by the idiot that thinks he needs to post twice, and in bigger type the second time, what a fucking troll... There is more to it than you think and the jetting difference is about 20%, not 33% (in case you're to dim to realize that's 1/3). You can run higher compression and get more power and then run a better gear and work the car less. Or maybe you're just dense....

 

the article is just to point out that alternative fuels can function in a free market economy. it takes time, effort, and money. But i would like to see the day where i can give the big fuck you to the towel heads and let them rot in thier own shit.

anyways, a little education never hurt anybody.

 

Me and you both.

 

Wow,

I wish we could get straight alky auto fuel here in Seattle; I'd decommission my smelly ol' diesel Benz in a jiffy.

Right now I run B20 that I buy at a cardlock place on Airport Way in So. Seattle, and buy B100 when I go to Kirkland to drop my daughter at Chinese school. It's cool to fill up and know I ain't sending any money to a country that has a high percentage of motherfuckers who want to commit acts of terrorism against me & mine. I just wish I wasn't locked into diesel engines (or spend $3.79/gal for B100) to do so.

Still, it's worth it to 'raise the middle finger to the middle east'.

-Bill

 

I have a link on my other computer for E85. It gives a list of all the cars that are compatible and tells you where you can buy it. I will have to try and find it.

 

Amen to that, Fur Biscuit.
By the way, is it proper to eat a fur biscuit for breakfast or must one wait for "an after dinner snack?"

 

rotflmao!!!

 

Last year Illinois (kant spull thes mornin), mandated a 5% blend of soybase bio in all of thier diesel.

(as we all know there are 2 types of bio: soy and yellow grease)

the soy base has less of an issue with phase separation, and low temp coagulation/ gelling. off the top of my head yellow grease gels in the 40's F, where soy base is good down into the 30's.

Soy base bio is a very interesting commodity, theoretically the US can grow all the b-100 that it needs to handle all shore side diesel consumption. (bio diesel comes in different blends b-100, being straight bio; b-20 being a 20% blend; etc...)

I worked on a couple of projects involving b-20, we converted the Davis Unitrans Bus system over to b-20, it went great. (there are some really cool market functions to bio right now, in regards to how the price fluctuates, and the market movements, and cool shit like that.)

don't get me wrong i am a hydrocarbon guy to the core, but i hate being beholden to someone else for anything.

 

Tman. My ranger is set up to run e85 as well, unfortunately theres no stations around here the sell it. IS there anything you need to do mantainace wise running e85 as opposed to regular gas?

 

At first, if I swapped back and forth between fuels the engine light would come on. A scan showed the computer was confused from the o2 sensor. On my way to Mpls, I went from e85 to reg to e85 without this happening.

I have noticed my oil stays cleaner longer, kinda weird. Other than the usual, I havent had to do anything else.

 

E85 and biodiesel do work. They offer lower emissions and lower cost per-gallon. As was mentioned, MPG is slightly less, but E-85 here in MN is typically 2/3 the price of 87, and about half the price of 92, and has octane over 100.

So, done correctly, E85 would replace 85 percent of the gasoline we currently consume. This would put a big dent in the oil company profits.

If you ask me why we haven't done it on a larger scale yet, I'd answer with my suspicions that politics have a lot to do with it.

The "typical" argument is that ethanol (and therefore E85) is not economically feasible due to the expense in growing the corn, processing it, and making the E85. What idiots using this lame argument fail to realize is that the corn used for E85 is already being used for feed corn, and the Ethanol companies take the starch out of it and return it to the feed processors. Cows don't need starch anyway.

In other words, this corn is already bought and paid for, and all the ethanol producers are doing is giving it yet another purpose, justifying the expenses of growing it even further. In fact, it's MORE wasteful if it's ONLY used as feed corn.

Also, other biomass (like hay, grasses, etc.) that farmers used to have to pay to be buried in landfills can also be processed into ethanol. If there was an honest push to use ALL the potential biomass that's either buried or burned in this country to make ethanol, the expenses of growing corn would be limited even further.

I did an extensive article on E85 and its potential use in high performance hot rods a few years back. What I learned was that this could be a huge help to the current oil need and would potentially assist in the development of new technologies, aid American farmers, and really throw a wrench into oil companies machinery.

I was then reminded that we have an oil man in the white house, and that oil company profits have increased rather dramatically since he was sworn in. There have been policies approved and prices paid to ensure the oil industry will be enjoying immense profits for years to come.

Until the political climate changes, odds are slim the ethanol market will see any federal assistance. The largest gains have been made by those few forward-looking states with the intelligence to recognize the potential in this home-brewed fuel source.

I have TONS of info on this stuff, but if you want more "techie" answers, check www.e85fuel.com.

~Scotch~

 

Run a tank of gas through it every tenth tank. E85 is hell on valves and seats, and most automakers that are selling flex fuel cars are NOT optimizing the engines for them--they know that 99% of the customers aren't going to run them on a steady diet of E85. Valve seat and guide materials that stand up to ethanol are very expensive, so they assume the "acceptable risk" to durability (and it won't be a problem until the car is out of warranty anyway) A tank of gasoline will clean off valve and seat deposits, though it won't help you on wear.

If you run two cars for 100K on gas and E85 and tear them down (or do a cylinder leakdown test), you can tell real quick which one ran on E85.

 

I love you, man!

Not only does E85 work - if the engine is configured to run on straight alky, it's possible to wring more HP and fuel economy outta it than with gas. Prob is, an alky motor will run well with compression ratios north of 12:1 while a hot pump fuel motor is limited to about 10.5:1 these days. If you're running flex fuel, you can't squeeze the gas mix like you can an alky mix.

There are a lot of half-assed arguments for both sides floating around on the Web - you can find any number of pages to support either argument. Just remember that the 'old' timers ran nitro with an alky base and 14:1 comp ratios for a reason...