Brazilian Ethanol Retail Infrastructure Provides Model for United States

by BryAnn Becker Knecht (Vital) ... A 1979 law established dedicated ethanol pumps as a way to reduce the country’s dependence on foreign oil. Now, more than four decades later, those ethanol pumps are still in place and are bringing benefits to Brazil and its citizens beyond energy independence.

Because of this, every car on the road in Brazil today runs on at least 27 percent ethanol — the minimum amount of ethanol available at the pump. Consumers have two choices at the pump: either E27, which is a biofuel blend with 27 percent ethanol, or E100, which is 100 percent ethanol.

U.S. ethanol proponents say Brazil’s ethanol retail infrastructure offers a model for the U.S.

Moving to offering higher blends — even beyond E15 — at more retail stations in the U.S. would bring even greater benefits to farmers, consumers and the environment at large.

That Brazil’s passenger fleet runs on a minimum of E27 also debunks the argument that the U.S. passenger fleet couldn’t efficiently run on higher blends beyond E10, notes Marc Rauch, automotive expert and co-founder of The Auto Channel. “They run on E27 as their standard fuel. They are running basically all the same vehicles as we have,” he said.

While Brazil has a greater percentage of flex-fuel vehicles compared to the U.S. — 72 percent compared to 10 percent in the U.S. — flex-fuel and non-flex-fuel vehicles are nearly identical. The difference is not in the engine or parts but in the computer system and certification process. Rauch notes. The computer system in a flex-fuel vehicle (FFV) is programmed to detect the type of fuel and adjusts the engine timing and fuel flow to compensate for the higher octane.

The set-up of Brazil’s industry also helps with supply and demand for the ethanol industry — not to mention providing consumers the choice to fill up with a cleaner, higher-performing and more affordable choice at the pump.

“The fact that every retail station in Brazil sells E100 provides a great relief valve for the ethanol industry in times of ethanol oversupply or, on the flip side, a great alternate during gasoline shortages,” Willis (Craig Willis, Senior Vice President of Global Markets at Growth Energy) says. “Consumers can make the choice to fill up with either E27 or E100, based on what the market is telling them to do, and the Brazilians have become quite adept at making that calculation and choice.” READ MORE