Want to kick that nasty foreign oil dependency? Brazil shows the way:
Virtually all cars sold in the United States since the early 1980s can run on gasoline containing as much as 10 percent ethanol. In addition, there are an estimated 5 million ‘flex-fuel’ vehicles already on U.S. roads that can burn a mixture as high as 85 percent ethanol. But big logistical and political hurdles remain. Only a few hundred of the nation’s approximately 169,000 retail gas stations are equipped to sell so-called E85 fuel. Nationwide distribution would require station owners to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in special tanks and pumps.
Although U.S. ethanol makers say they could easily double their output to meet any increase in demand, experts say that’s still a drop in the bucket compared with the tens of billions of gallons that would be needed annually to displace meaningful amounts of petroleum. The U.S. industry is loath to give up tariffs that protect it from cheaper alcohol from Brazil. Meanwhile, some environmentalists say feedstock such as grasses and municipal waste offer much more promise than corn. But huge investments in research are needed to bring the costs down for this so-called ‘cellulosic’ ethanol.
What most can agree on is that Brazil is an example of what might have been if America had seriously committed itself 30 years ago to renewable energy.
The investment has certainly paid off, with what the article claims to be a combination of public initiative and free market solutions.
The industry has created 1 million jobs in Brazil. That’s good news for rural farmers in America who are looking to the future.
UPDATE: Some cars are already E85 compliant. Find out more information here.