[biodiesel] Ethanol Country Producers (part 1)

Hi Readers,



continuation of biodiesel topic, as taken from wikipedia.com



Experience by country


The top five ethanol producers in 2006 were the United States with 4.855 billion U.S. liquid gallons (bg), Brazil (4.49 bg), China (1.02 bg), India (0.50 bg) and France (0.25 bg).[32]



Brazil and the United States accounted for 70 percent of all ethanol production, with total world production of 13.5 billion US gallons (40 million tonnes). When accounting just for fuel ethanol production in 2007, the U.S. and Brazil are responsible for 88% of the 13.1 billion gallons total world production. Strong incentives, coupled with other industry development initiatives, are giving rise to fledgling ethanol industries in countries such as Thailand, Colombia, and some Central American countries. Nevertheless, ethanol has yet to make a dent in world oil consumption of approximately 4000 million tonnes/yr (84 million barrels/day).[33]



Brazil
Main article: Ethanol fuel in Brazil

Brazil has ethanol fuel available throughout the country. A typical Petrobras filling station at São Paulo with dual fuel service, marked A for alcohol (ethanol) and G for gasoline.

Typical Brazilian "flex" models from several car makers, that run on any blend of ethanol and gasoline.
Brazil has the largest and most successful bio-fuel programs in the world, involving production of ethanol fuel from sugar cane, and it is considered to have the world's first sustainable biofuels economy.[35][36][37]



In 2006 Brazilian ethanol provided around 20% of the country's road transport sector fuel consumption needs, and more than 40% of fuel consumption for the light vehicle fleet.[38][39] [36] As a result of the increasing use of ethanol, together with the exploitation of domestic deep water oil sources, Brazil, which years ago had to import a large share of the petroleum needed for domestic consumption, in 2006 reached complete self-sufficiency in oil supply.[40][41][42]
Together, Brazil and the United States lead the industrial world in global ethanol production, accounting together for 70% of the world's production[43] and nearly 90% of ethanol used for fuel. [44] In 2006 Brazil produced 16.3 billion liters (4.3 billion U.S. liquid gallons),[32] which represents 33.3% of the world's total ethanol production and 42% of the world's ethanol used as fuel.[44] Sugar cane plantations cover 3.6 million hectares of land for ethanol production, representing just 1% of Brazil's arable land, with a productivity of 7,500 liters of ethanol per hectare, as compared with the U.S. maize ethanol productivity of 3,000 liters per hectare.[45][35]


Production and use of ethanol has been stimulated through:
Low-interest loans for the construction of ethanol distilleries
Guaranteed purchase of ethanol by the state-owned oil company at a reasonable price
Retail pricing of neat ethanol so it is competitive if not slightly favorable to the gasoline-ethanol blend. Tax incentives provided during the 1980s to stimulate the purchase of neat ethanol vehicles.[46]


Guaranteed purchase and price regulation were ended some years ago, with relatively positive results. In addition to these other policies, ethanol producers in the state of São Paulo established a research and technology transfer center that has been effective in improving sugar cane and ethanol yields.[46]


There are no longer light vehicles in Brazil running on pure gasoline. Since 1977 the government made mandatory to blend 20% of ethanol (E20) with gasoline (gasohol), requiring just a minor adjustment on regular gasoline motors. Today the mandatory blend is allowed to vary nationwide between 20% to 25% ethanol (E25) and it is used by all regular gasoline vehicles, plus three million cars running on 100% anhydrous ethanol and five million of dual or flexible-fuel vehicles. The Brazilian car manufacturing industry developed full flexible-fuel vehicles that can run on any proportion of gasoline and ethanol.[47] Introduced in the market in 2003, these vehicles became a commercial success.[48] On March 2008, the fleet of "flex" cars and light commercial vehicles had reached 5 million new vehicles sold.[49] which represents around 10% of Brazil's motor vehicle fleet and 15.6% of all light vehicles.[50] The ethanol-powered and "flex" vehicles, as they are popularly known, are manufactured to tolerate hydrated ethanol, an azeotrope comprised of 95.6% ethanol and 4.4% water.[51]



United States
Main article: Ethanol fuel in the United States


The United States produces and consumes more ethanol fuel than any other country in the world. Most cars on the road today in the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and motor vehicle manufacturers already produce vehicles designed to run on much higher ethanol blends. In 2007 Portland, Oregon, became the first city in the United States to require all gasoline sold within city limits to contain at least 10% ethanol.[52][53] As of January 2008, three states — Missouri, Minnesota, and Hawaii — require ethanol to be blended with gasoline motor fuel. Many cities are also required to use an ethanol blend due to non-attainment of federal air quality goals.[54]

A Ford Taurus "fueled by clean burning ethanol" owned by New York City.
Several motor vehicle manufacturers, including Ford, DaimlerChrysler, and GM, sell flexible-fuel vehicles that can use gasoline and ethanol blends ranging from pure gasoline all the way up to 85% ethanol (E85). By mid-2006, there were approximately six million E85-compatible vehicles on U.S. roads.[55]


In the USA there are currently 1,522 stations distributing ethanol, although most stations are in the corn belt area.[56][57] One of the debated methods for distribution in the US is using existing oil pipelines,[58] which raises concerns over corrosion. In any case, some companies proposed building a 1,700-mile pipeline to carry ethanol from the Midwest through Central Pennsylvania to New York. [59]


The production of fuel ethanol from corn in the United States is controversial for a few reasons. Production of ethanol from corn is 5 to 6 times less efficient than producing it from sugarcane. Ethanol production from corn is highly dependent upon subsidies and it consumes a food crop to produce fuel.[31] The subsidies paid to fuel blenders and ethanol refineries have often been cited as the reason for driving up the price of corn, and in farmers planting more corn and the conversion of considerable land to corn (maize) production which generally consumes more fertilizers and pesticides than many other land uses.[31] This is at odds with the subsidies actually paid directly to farmers that are designed to take corn land out of production and pay farmers to plant grass and idle the land, often in conjunction with soil conservation programs, in an attempt to boost corn prices. Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol production and commercialization may allay some of these concerns.[60]