Over Half of Brazil’s New Cars Run on Gas, Ethanol or a Mix of Both

Demand for ethanol made from sugar cane is booming in Brazil, where it is used to make gasohol – the country’s most common car fuel, consisting of 23 per cent ethanol.

Key to this boom are the country’s ‘flex-fuel’ cars, introduced in 2003, which can be run on mixtures of gas and ethanol, allowing drivers to choose their fuel depending on local prices.

These now account for well over half of Brazil’s new cars, reports Emma Marris from Nature magazine.

Producing ethanol from sugar cane has been touted for being greener and requiring fewer inputs – for example fertilizer – than other crops, such as corn.

Brazil is the world’s largest producer of sugar cane. And growing sugar cane is easy in sunny Brazil. It only needs to be replanted every five years, making it the cheapest ethanol in the world.

There are uncertainties about environmental costs and sustainability, but as the market continues to expand, there is increasing interest from other countries to cash in on the advantages of sugar cane.

Tags:

You May Also Like

Indian Zamin Resources Builds in Brazil a Multi-Billion Iron Ore Project

According to a Dow Jones report, Indian-owned, UK-based Zamin Resources has one major iron ...

Brazil Finds Another 2 Billion Barrels of Light Oil

State-controlled oil multinational Petrobras informed Friday, November 21, that it has discovered new reserves ...

80% of the World’s Countries Eat Brazilian Meat. Add Tunisia to the List.

Brazilian meatpacking plants are going to start exporting cattle beef to Tunisia at the ...