Bioalcohol and Ethanol – A Realistic Future Fuel?

The search for alternative fuels to drive our cars has been caused by several realisations which have occurred at different times. Some time ago it was recognised that fossil fuels, although an excellent short term source of energy, light and heat, did not burn cleanly and that their use caused pollution of a kind that, if left unchecked, could have dangerous consequences for our planet. It is equally recognised that fossil fuels are nonrenewable. Although this may not be an immediate problem – there is certainly enough fuel there in order to power your car to work tomorrow – the rate at which we are using fossil fuels means that there will come a point when there is nothing left.

It is reaching the point where alternative fuel sources are no longer simply something that are spoken about by environmental campaigners, and discussed idly by well-meaning consumers who nonetheless still use fossil fuels. It has reached the stage where alternative fuels are something necessary and indispensable if we are not to exhaust the natural resources that exist under the surface of the earth. At some stage, the oil companies are going to run out of places to drill – and when they do, we had better be prepared. This recognition is dawning more slowly in some areas of the world than in others. One place where the importance of alternative fuelling methods is recognised is Brazil, where now the majority of newly-sold automobiles run on flexible fuels.

Brazil has, in fact, been running flexible fuel vehicles in some capacity for more than thirty years. Initially this was done by mixing 20% of ethanol with 80% of gasoline. However, as technologies have improved, the stage is being reached where numerous vehicles in Brazil run mostly or entirely on ethanol. This is not the end point, of course, as there are now moves afoot to develop flex-fueled motorcycles as well. Indeed, the first of these is already on the market – the Honda CG 150 Titan Mix.

It may surprise many to learn the identity of the country that used most ethanol fuel in the world last year. That country was the United States of America. This should come as no major surprise, perhaps, as the Quadricycle - the first ever motor car developed by Henry Ford, in advance of his Model T - ran on ethanol. Even the Model T itself was capable of running on a mix of ethanol and gasoline.

Some cities and states in the US now mandate the use of ethanol – usually gleaned from crops such as sugar cane and corn – in the fuels sold by their filling stations. At the present time it is felt that the fuel is best used in light vehicles and has problems driving anything more substantial than a 4x4. Nonetheless, it is hoped that the appliance of science can make the use of ethanol more prominent and usher in an age when we no longer need to rely on fossil fuels. That day is getting closer, but is not here yet.