Suzuki’s Cars Will Run On 100% Ethanol in US, Brazil by 2010
According to the Nikkei Business Daily (via Tradingmarkets.com), Japan’s Suzuki Motor Company will begin selling cars that run completely on 100% ethanol in the US and Brazil by 2010. The company will begin the transition by first offering an E25 sedan for sale in Brazil this coming March.
Currently the most ethanol that a flex-fuel car can run on in the US is E85 — which is an 85% ethanol/15% gasoline blend. Suzuki’s move would mark a huge development in ethanol-powered vehicles, and a huge shift for Suzuki, which hasn’t had any alternative fuel-specific offerings in its lineup to this point.
- » See also: Biofuels Breakthrough: Making Fuel From Air With Engineered Microbes
- » Get Gas 2.0 by RSS or sign up by email.
Ethanol use in the US has risen sharply recently, however, it still accounts for a small amount of the fuel sold. On the other hand, in Brazil ethanol is just as prevalent as gasoline and is available at nearly all fuel stations.
The Brazilian ethanol industry is experiencing amazing growth right now — so much so that the President of UNICA, Marcos Jank, thinks it shows that ethanol does work as a fuel source and doesn’t have to compete with food crops.
The Brazilian ethanol industry is based on the conversion of sugarcane to ethanol and, according to reports, it is a completely self-sustaining industry.
Some key facts of Brazilian ethanol production:
- All fuel sold in Brazil contains a 20-25% blend of ethanol
- The unsubsidized ethanol industry offers a fuel that is on average $1 below the price of gas
- Virtually all 33,000 gas pumps offer E100
- Just 1% of the 40% of arable land in Brazil is being used to produce sugarcane ethanol
- 45% of fuel for cars is from sugarcane
- The food industry is growing faster than the ethanol industry
- 90% of all new automobiles sold are flex-fuel automobiles
- 100% of GM vehicles produced in Brazil are flex-fuel
- 20% of all cars on the road are flex-fuel vehicles today
If those numbers aren’t proof that bio-ethanol can work, I don’t know what is. The US’ problem is that we’re focused on the wrong plant (corn) for ethanol production right now. But that’s changing and hopefully soon the naysayers won’t have any legs to stand on.
I applaud Suzuki for its bold steps in addressing the future needs of the US before there’s even a market to support it.
Posts Related to Ethanol and the Food vs. Fuel Debate:
- Gasification: Ultra-Cheap Biofuel From Any Carbon Source
- Cellulosic Ethanol Primer: Let’s Call it “Celluline”
- Dedicated Energy Crops Could Replace 30% of Gasoline: Ceres, Inc. Wants to Make it Happen
- Prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid: 88 MPG on 85% Ethanol
- Ethanol Use in US and Brazil Rises Sharply
- USDA Says Ethanol Accounts for Only 3% of Increased Cost of Food
- “Perfect Storm” Inflating Food Prices Worldwide
- Biodiesel Myth (Or Fact?) #23: Biodiesel is Raising Food Prices
- Europe’s EPA Advises Suspending Biofuel Targets
- 2015: 30% of US Corn Harvest Will Be Gasoline
Image Credits: Suzuki Motor Company
I can totally see Suzuki sales soaring in the US after the release of their new line of cars. I’m sure they’ll be priced very reasonable as well.
The price of gas is not the more gas or fuel the less the price, but on a genie in a bottle -speculation…
ie
I think we will have bad weather in the Atlantic…Increase the price.
ie
There may be a conflict somewhere overseas…Increase the price.
What would the gov do, if we paid less on our mortgages cuz the price of our home went down in value? They would foreclose on us and not care.
implement the most efficient manner of renewable ethanol production and you’ve got a deal…
algae, bacteria, et al. NOT: what would otherwise be feed for humans and livestock, subsidized heavily to inhibit competition and growth.
brazil can more efficiently produce ethanol from cane sugar, something it has plenty of. good for them; i hope their demand and good example will wean us all.
Hi there, I’m a Brazilian and i have a flex fuel car, a VW Polo 1.6
Some of the facts, flex fuel cars use a start up engine,those uses gasoline but like 0.5 liters in a week or two, this is only used in cold conditions, like 10 Celsius or lower, but some engines already don’t need this, like the 1.4 econoflex from GM
Here in brazil we dont need to sacrifice other crops to plant sugarcane, like the article said, other crops are rising faster then the sugarcane
Corn looks like a sure bet for ethanol, 1 ton of corn produces more ethanol then 1 ton of sugarcane, but here is the catch, the sugarcane produces much more tons per acre, i don’t know the how much, but this makes the sugarcane much more profitable then the corn
everyone says that ethanol only have 70% of the efficiency of gas, that’s true, but ethanol has more octanes than gas, it makes your car work batter, and faster as well, my vw has 101 hp on gas and this go to 104 in ethanol, but on ethanol there is less carburation, the engines is cleaner, so less maintenance costs
ethanol releases very little co2 in the air, i think its like something almost 10 times lower then gas
ok hope just my 2 cents, my english is a little rusty, so i might made some mistakes, if anyone wants to ask me any info or pictures of my car i can gladly send them my email is zurkka at gmail dot com
Some think ethanol is the key to energy dependence? Energy dependence is an illusion. As long as lobbyist are in DC paying off politicians there will not be energy dependence. Just a different game the politicians will play.
Do you want to bet all your life saving on an illusion? The most eff method of dependence is walking or taking a bus.
Why would anyone want to run a car on ethanol? It costs more per mile than gas.
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
Dude,Yes E85 did flop once acording to the article that was back in the day when gas was $2.20 a gallon and E85 came to $2.85.
The last time I filled up I paid $2.70 for E85. Unleaded regular was selling for $3.89.
My Ford Ranger gets 26 MPG w/regular unleaded and 21 MPG w/E85. this works out to a reduction of 20% in mileage against a savings of 30% in fuel.
E85 as an alternative fuel is now feasable, because its price is coming down and gas is going up. It also is cleaner burning than gas.
You can buy a conversion kit and start using E85 today. Batteries are the next logical step but I can’t go out and buy one until 2010, and the $20,000 to convert my ranger to electric seems ridiculous.
At least I know my money is going to an American farmer when I buy fuel instead of to some foriegn dictator that wants to build a nuclear bomb.
I hear electric cars flopped once too. If we dont improve the range and price of the batteries they will just remain a dream for tommorow. Until then I’m fillin up with good old USA white lightning!
I think cellulosic ethanol would be a better choice then corn because if you use total biomass then the leaves and stalks of the plant that contain everything else then you will produce more ethanol.
The main problem with ethanol is that the majority of engines on the road today are not designed for it. The Saab 9-5 Biopower engine is optimized for ethanol. It outperforms gasoline, getting 20% more power, 16% greater torque, and 10% better mileage. Now Suzuki and other car makers will follow. Ethanol can be denatured without using gasoline. Our system of blending 15% gasoline into ethanol is not necessary. That was how politicians created an incentive for oil companies to distribute ethanol, by giving them a 51 cent per gallon tax credit to blend it with gasoline. Problem is, ethanol performs better when its mixed with water rather than gasoline. This is called hydrous ethanol. A Pratt Community College engine testing team lead by instructor Greg Bacon, mixed 20% water with pure ethanol, and efficiency in the combustion chamber doubled. When the ethanol explodes, the water instantly turns to steam and provides hydrogen and oxygen inside the cylinder. Next year, Ford is introducing the EcoBoost engine, which may also have advanced ethanol technology that doubles efficiency. Brazil has been using 4% hydrous ethanol for years. They laughed at us when we started mixing ethanol with gasoline. Water is the way. Louisiana is implementing an experimental hydrous ethanol program. Dongfeng, a major Chinese auto maker is introducing a car this year, with a slightly modified fuel system, that runs on 65% ethanol and 35% water. They claim hydrogen is formed. Toyota also has a similar hydrous ethanol prototype that produces on board hydrogen. Major automakers are coming out with smaller, lighter, high compression and turbocharged ethanol optimized engines that are more efficient than current gasoline engines. Maybe that’s why Toyota is building ethanol plants in Brazil, and GM is investing in ethanol development in the U. S…They must know something we don’t know about ethanol.
Nearly all the taxis in Bangkok use LPG or NGV, I dont see why slowly introducing new types of fuel shouldn’t work everywhere.