Bioethanol

BIOETHANOL AND BIOMASS

You can put sugar in things other than your tea. In fact Brazil loves bioethanol so much they no longer run any light vehicles on pure gasoline.

The market governs this of course. Bioethanol is much cheaper to produce locally in Brazil than it is to import oil from abroad.

Bioethanol is alcohol by any other name and is the closest you can get to a renewable form of petrol.

BIOETHANOL AND BIOMASS

What is it?

Bioethanol is the most common biofuel used worldwide, produced by converting sugar to alcohol. The alcohols used in these fuels are produced by fermenting sugars, followed by distillation to produce the alcohol. The sugars have been sourced from crops of wheat, sugar beets, sugar cane, corn and any other starch or sugar that can be used to make alcohol.

How does it work?

It's a raw energy source that can be used in petrol engines as a replacement for gasoline, or even mixed with gasoline. It is often used as a blend to save on fuel costs. Any car that runs on unleaded petrol in the UK can have 5% of bioethanol added to ordinary petrol; some cars can even have up to 85% ethanol and 15% petrol to fuel their movement.

Why is it green?

Because many existing cars can either run on a low or high mix of bio-ethanol, it's a readily available way to make a difference. The life cycle of bioethanol is also completely carbon neutral so can be made ad infinitum without damaging the earth's resources.

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