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March 2, 2006 |
A: We have seen growth in ethanol and biofuels globally and it is
certainly not limited to the U.S. Brazil introduced a program to produce ethanol
for use in automobiles in order to reduce oil imports. Brazilian ethanol is made
mainly from sugar cane. Pure ethanol (100% ethanol) is used in approximately 40
percent of the cars in Brazil. The remaining vehicles use blends of 24 percent
ethanol with 76 percent gasoline. Brazil consumes nearly 4 billion gallons of
ethanol annually. In addition to consumption, Brazil also exports ethanol to
other countries. "The Forbidden Fuel" published in 1985 by Bernton, Kovarik and
myself documents the early Brazil ethanol program as well as the early German
and South African liquid fuels from coal programs.
The Far East has become extremely interested in ethanol with fuel grade
facilities going up in places like China and Thailand. The Philippines have
begun to use ethanol and India, which had been using fuel ethanol in previous
years, is also rebounding due to adjustments in the world's sugar market. India
is initiating the use of ethanol as an automotive fuel or as an oxygenate in
gasoline with upto a 15 percent ethanol blend with diesel are being considered
for use in vehicles in at least one state.
The European Union has begun large scale use of ethanol and the drivers behind
all of these programs generally are a mix of environmental and energy needs.
Douglas Durante, Executive Director of the Clean Fuels Development Coalition in
Washington, DC states, "Europe faces unique challenges due to the many different
countries and the need to work within existing trade policies." He elaborates
further, Looking at Europe specifically, bioethanol fuel production went up by a
factor of 9 in the 25 countries in the European Union (EU) during the decade of
1993 to 2004. By the end of 2006 that is anticipated to increase by another 33
percent. Production facilities have sprung up in Spain, Germany, Sweden, the
Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, and Finland to name a few. EU countries
have agreed to a non-binding target of 2 percent biofuel market penetration,
increasing to 5.75% by 2010, Plus they have a great interest in biodiesel and
they are looking at both biodiesel and ethanol diesel blends." According to Rob
Vierhout, Secretary General of the European Bioethanol Fuel Association, member
states have caught the biofuels fever.
Ethanol from cereals and sugar beet for blending with conventional fuel, makes
up 40 percent of French biofuel production. The rest comes from biodiesel,
mainly derived from crops like rapeseed. Spain still is Europe's biggest ethanol
producer with annual output of 200,000 tonnes. France occupies the number two
spot with output of 100,000 tonnes a year.
"France will catch Spain up and possibly go beyond it by 2008," Alain Jeanroy,
France's ethanol industry coordinator told Reuters this past January. , adding
that industry growth in Spain would be hampered by the country's position as a
net grain importer. Using the sugar beet,France will likely produce 880,000
tonnes of ethanol by 2008 and two million tonnes by 2015
Canadian provinces promote ethanol use as a fuel by offering subsidies of up to
45 cents per gallon of ethanol.
Sweden has used ethanol in chemical production for many years. As a result,
Sweden's crude oil consumption has been cut in half since 1980. Ethanol-blended
gasoline and ethanol-blended diesel are being seriously promoted as viable
alternatives to further lower emission levels.
This past January, German carmaker Volkswagen, Shell and Iogen Corp. are joining
forces to conduct a study to assess the economic feasibility of producing
cellulose ethanol in Germany. This biofuel, produced by Iogen, could be used in
current automobiles and light trucks - cutting CO2 emissions by 90% compared
with conventional fuels, said Volkswagen Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder.
All automotive manufacturers currently allow the use cellulose ethanol fuel
blends, noted Volkswagen's Pischetsrieder -- 10% (E10) in North America and 5%
(E5) in Europe. In 2003, the European Union issued a biofuel directive in
response to anticipated shortages and rising costs of fossil fuels, with a
target of 5.75% biofuel use by 2010.
Not to be outdone by VW, in July of 2005, Ford introduced its new generation
Focus Flexi-Fuel, plus a Flexi-Fuel version of the Ford Focus C-MAX in Sweden
and remains the leading manufacturer of ethanol-powered vehicles in Europe.
Offering up to a 70 per cent reduction in overall CO 2 (carbon dioxide)
emissions, the new Focus and Focus C-MAX Flexi-Fuel vehicles play a key role in
Ford's broad portfolio approach and wide-ranging efforts towards sustainable
mobility. "There is a lot to be proud of with this vehicle, from demonstrating
Ford's commitment to lead the industry in affordable bio-ethanol technologies to
showing what can be achieved when government and business and private enterprise
work together," said Wolfgang Schneider, Vice President, Governmental and
Environmental Affairs, Ford of Europe. "We consider these technologies to be of
critical importance and that is why Ford will continue to explore and support
other bio-ethanol initiatives across Europe ." Working closely with the Swedish
Flexi-Fuel Buyers' Consortium, a conglomeration of public organizations,
commercial enterprises and private individuals, Ford was the first manufacturer
to offer bio-ethanol powered vehicles in a European market. Since its
introduction in 2001, Ford has sold over 15,000 Focus Flexi-Fuels in Sweden. In
2003 and 2004, more than 80 per cent of environmentally friendly cars sold in
Sweden were Focus Flexi-Fuels.
Europe's gasoline costs are high (they laugh at our $2 - $3 per gallon woes)
because these governments tax gasoline similar to our high taxes on cigarettes
and alcohol. So while the price incentives are there, the innovations in farming
using surpluses or new crops have lagged behind the US experience till lately.
But it is clear, Europe and Asia will follow Brazil and US and become major
players in biofuels in this decade. -- Scott
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