by Andrew Downie
10-10-05
Brazilians aren't waiting for high-priced hybrid cars. Drivers are fighting
rising gasoline prices by buying "flex" or "flexible fuel" cars that slurp more
alcohol.
Alcohol made from sugar cane is becoming the fuel of choice in Brazil, and other
countries -- so much so that global sugar prices hit a seven-year high. Regular
car engines will run fine on a 10 % blend of alcohol and gasoline. But by using
computer sensors that adjust to whatever mix is in the tank, flex car engines
run on either ethanol, gasoline, or any combination of the two. And they have
been roaring out of dealerships here since Volkswagen sold the first TotalFlex
Golf in March 2003.
Today, flex cars are outselling traditional gasoline models. In August, 62 %
of new cars sold were flex, according to industry numbers.
"Demand has been unbelievable," says Barry Engle, the new president of Ford
Brasil. "I am hard-pressed to think of any other technology that has been such a
success so quickly."
Economical ethanol
As many countries re-examine their dependence on petroleum fields for fuel,
Brazil offers a model for how to make the switch to cane, beet, wheat, or corn
fields. The successful transition here comes down to many factors, but price is
the primary one, experts say.
Unlike hybrids sold in the US, for example, flex cars sold in Brazil don't cost
any more than traditional models. In fact, some models are only available with
flex engines now. Ethanol engines use 25 % more ethanol per mile than gasoline.
But ethanol (the alcohol produced by fermenting sugar) usually sells at
somewhere between a third to half of the price of gas. Even people who were
reluctant to take the plunge and buy a flex car say they have been won over by
the savings.
"It's been a revelation because of the economy," says Madalena Lira, a
university lecturer who says that she and her husband had reluctantly purchased
a flex car because it was the only available version of the Fiat Palio Weekend
they wanted.
"I love this car in spite of it being a flex, not because it is a flex. The
savings have been great. I'd certainly buy another one."
In addition to the savings, environmentally-conscious drivers appreciate
having a car that runs on a cleaner fuel, and some might even buy a flex car
because they know it is good for the country's auto and sugar manufacturers. But
today, two-and-a-half years into the flex experiment, another unforeseen
advantage is emerging.
"There is something curious that we are just starting to see," says Alfred
Szwarc, an ethanol consultant with Sao Paulo's sugar cane association. "Gasoline
powered cars lose more of their [resale] value than flex cars. People know that
oil is finite and that it is going to get more and more expensive. They think
that a gasoline-powered car is going to be more difficult to sell. They see flex
cars as the car of the future."
Early experiences
Ethanol-powered cars are not new in Brazil. In a bid to cut the country's
reliance on foreign oil imports and help their own sugar producers, Brazil's
military government pushed alcohol-powered cars in the early 1980s. Gas stations
across the country added ethanol pumps to the existing gasoline and diesel ones.
Between 1983 and 1988 more than 88 % of cars sold annually were running on a
blend of ethanol and gasoline.
That didn't last for long, though. The subsidies were withdrawn at the end of
the decade, and cane farmers quickly realized they could get more from selling
sugar than turning it into ethanol. When alcohol fuel shortages ensued it looked
like the end of the road for ethanol engines as sales of the experimental cars
plummeted.
That experience may have been a bitter one but it gave Brazilians a taste for
alternative fuels that lingered. Although most people abandoned ethanol cars,
many taxi drivers kept them because it was so much cheaper than a gas-only car.
Then the country's Congress passed a law forcing oil companies to add small
quantities of ethanol to their gasoline. That prompted car companies to
experiment with an engine that would run on both fuels, and when they did, the
flex car sales took off.
"Why did this take off here?" asks Mr Engle. "Because this isn't brand-new. Car
buyers concerned about high gas prices or potential ethanol shortages no longer
have to make a choice between the two. It used to be an either-or but now
there's both and that gives consumers peace of mind and explains why Brazilians
have embraced it."
Global demand for gas alternatives?
The next task is convincing other nations to adopt the technology, industry
experts said. With oil prices at a record high, there is a clear advantage to
diluting gasoline or even substituting it, with sugar-based ethanol or one of
the biofuel alternatives such as beets or corn.
For most countries, the problem is the lack of ethanol production and a
distribution system. Although many countries require oil companies to dilute
their gasoline with ethanol (in Brazil, gas sold at the pumps is 25 %ethanol;
and some of the gas sold in the US, China, Australia and Canada is 10-15 %
ethanol), few actually make ethanol or manufacture flex vehicles, and even fewer
have a network of gas stations with ethanol pumps.
In the US -- with about 4 mm flex cars -- there are 14 states without even
one ethanol pump, says Robert White, project director for the National Ethanol
Vehicle Coalition. With years of experience at every stage of the process,
Brazil is in the pole position to help other nations' farmers grow crops,
scientists refine it into fuel, or engineers produce the technology to make flex
cars, says Rogelio Golfarb, president of Brazil's car makers association.
"There is an enormous demand from abroad to know more," Mr Golfarb says "This is
an advantage and an opportunity for Brazil."
Source: The Christian Science Monitor