São Paulo – The price of ethanol has not shown itself so attractive in Brazil in recent years, but that is no reason for the automotive industry in the country to stop believing in the future of the fuel. The number of flexibly fuelled vehicles are still growing in the patios of carmakers, in a ritual that is already well established, and other sectors of the vehicle industry have been adapting their products for use with alcohol. In the motorcycle market, the flex movement promises to become expressive, and in sectors like lorries and buses, nobody is left empty handed when asking for ethanol-powered vehicles.
The race of factories is for lower emission of pollutants, but also to satisfy consumer pockets, as they want to be able to buy ethanol when prices are advantageous. The use of ethanol generates 90% less carbon than the use of diesel or petrol. In the case of motorcycles, the market itself called for the option, with motorcyclists converting their vehicles at their own expense. Motorcycle producers started offering flexibly fuelled motorcycles three years ago. “Today, 90% of motorcycles sold in the country are flexibly fuelled,” said the emission and technology consultant at the Sugar Cane Industry Union (Única), Alfred Szwarc.
There is no doubt among specialists that the motorcycle market is following the same direction as that of the car market in Brazil. The first company to offer a dual-fuelled motorcycle in Brazil was Honda, in March 2009, with the CG 150 Titan. At the time of release, Honda produced 55% of the flexibly-fuelled model, and 45% only petrol fuelled. “It was to measure acceptance by the public, but it was so good that by November we were already exclusively selling flexibly-fuelled models. When we released the next flexibly-fuelled model, NXR 150 Bros, production was already 100% flex,” explained the mechanical engineer and Public Relations supervisor at Honda, Alfredo Guedes Júnior.
Honda has on the market four models of dual-fuelled motorcycles, in the 125cc and 150cc lines, and in February should start selling another two models, CB 300R and XRE 300, both 300cc models. Prices have not been changed, according to Guedes, when changing to flex production. The basic technology used by Honda is electronic fuel injection, in a similar system to that used by flex cars.
But do consumers actually use ethanol in their motorcycles? Guedes states that as the motorcycles that are on the market are for work and everyday use, users opt for the cheapest fuel. “We do not have a closed research, but we can see that those counting cents in their economies calculate what fuel is more viable (ethanol or petrol). But we insist and focus on the environmental aspect, of CO2 emissions,” he said. The engineer recalls that for some users, motorcycles are a company.
With the arrival of new models, next year, this should change a little, as the higher cc motorcycles go to consumers who do not need to economize so much and may decide for ethanol due to the lower emissions. Yamaha, a competitor, only entered the dual fuel market this year, but in the 250 cc category, with the release of Fazer YS250. Guedes believes that the motorcycle market will be fully flexibly fuelled in future and states that Honda is working for that.
Cane powered
In the lorry and bus industries, there are several initiatives for ethanol fuelled engines, but there are not yet sighs of production in series in future. “I believe there will be market niches, but that it will not be a mass solution, and the technologies will serve for specific applications, where they may bring advantages – if not economic, environmental,” said Szwarc, from Única. And that is now, in fact, taking place with ethanol among lorry and bus producers. Most industries are testing vehicles that use renewable fuels, but focusing on specific sectors, like sugarcane producers themselves, or projects for urban transportation targeting lower emissions of pollutants.
Scania already offers to the market ethanol-fuelled lorries and buses. The engine is a diesel cycle, but the vehicles are fuelled with a mixture of 95% ethanol and 5% of an ignition promoting agent. According to the Latin American manager for the bus sector at Scania, Marcelo Montanha, some lorries are operating in the ethanol industry, but most of the Scania vehicles using the technology are buses. The company has 60 urban buses in the so-called Ecofrota (Ecofleet) travelling the streets of the city of São Paulo. For refuelling, Scania takes the agent to the fuel distributors, who add it to the ethanol and then distribute the fuel to bus companies.
According to Montanha, apart from the 90% reduction in carbon emissions, as against diesel, there is also a 50% reduction in emissions of particles, as against the diesel engines that currently leave Scania. According to the executive, the bus sector answer is extremely positive. “Passengers appreciate the vehicles,” he said. He does not believe, however, that there will be a single solution for the bus and lorry sector. “Today, 99% of the lorries and buses sold by Scania are diesel fuelled, but the matrix should change with cleaner technologies. Ethanol is one of the alternatives Scania is considering, as it supplies environmental needs and is in the country’s energy matrix,” said Montanha.
Prototypes here and there
MAN Latin America does not yet have ethanol-fuelled buses and lorries, but is testing a lorry that operates both with diesel and ethanol and should start being sold in two years, according to the Engineering, Product Strategy and Portfolio Management director at the company, Gastão Rachou. The diesel-cycle engine runs on both diesel and ethanol, using 55% renewable fuel. The vehicle has two tanks, one for hydrous alcohol and another for diesel. It starts running solely on diesel and later adds ethanol, according to engine rotation and load.
The prototype was presented last year and is undergoing internal tests, at the factory. Next year it should start running, still in the testing phase, at a sugar mill. According to Rachou, the vehicle was developed thinking about sugar mills, which have ethanol at production cost. The model can haul up to 73 tonnes and can be used as a road train, with two trailers, appropriate for sugarcane mills.
According to the Powertrain Engineering specialist at MAN, Gian Marques, lower emissions of particles are 60% as against the traditionally diesel fuelled vehicle when using 55% ethanol. There is also reduction of carbon emissions. Marques recalls that the use of ethanol generates neutral carbon, if considered, as although CO2 is issued when the vehicle is used, photosynthesis of sugarcane absorbs CO2, compensating the later emission.
Rachou believes that this market, for ethanol-fuelled lorries, depends on the price relation between diesel and ethanol. He recalls, however, that there are other sustainable fuels in the environmental point of view, like sugarcane diesel and biodiesel. The advantage of sugarcane diesel, according to the specialist, is that it may be used in conventional diesel engines. The price of the fuel, however, is still rather high due to the hydrogenation process it needs to undergo during production. MAN has a fleet of 10 buses that use 10% sugarcane diesel and 90% regular diesel operating in the streets of the city of São Paulo. The company is currently at an advanced testing and certification phase for use of 100% sugarcane diesel and transports cargo for demonstration of the fuel.
Iveco also has a prototype of a lorry operating with ethanol and diesel. The vehicle, called Trakker Bi-Fuel, is still being researched, and has two tanks allowing it to operate with diesel and ethanol, using up to 40% of the latter. It was tested in the sugarcane crop last year and is turned to the sugar energy sector, which can use cheap ethanol.
The senior engineer in the Innovation Area Products area at Iveco, Fabio Nicora, believes that “bi-fuel” technology using ethanol should not be the only one to replace diesel in future. Iveco, according to him, is researching other alternatives, like natural gas, biodiesel and electric traction. “The diesel used in more efficient and less polluting engines will be fundamental fuel to move the Brazilian fleet,” said Nicora. According to him, the use of ethanol is natural, for example, in the case of sugarcane corps.
And aircraft?
Despite not being a massively used fuel in the sector, ethanol plays a part in the aviation sector. Ipanema, an agricultural sector aircraft produced by Embraer – and that has been in production since the 1970s – has had an alcohol fuelled version since 2005. The vehicle is used for crop spraying and crop seeding. Alongside the Fapesp (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estados de São Paulo) and Boeing, however, Embraer should also develop a centre for alternative fuel research in aviation. The research work, however, has not yet started and it is not yet known whether ethanol will be included in the fuels.
Szwarc, from Única, recalls that the price control policy on fossil fuels in Brazil creates a problem for ethanol. “Ethanol is clean, but it is necessary to add economic value to that,” said the consultant. He stated that the route is not increasing the price of petrol, but granting benefits for ethanol to become more competitive. The choice of fuel – ethanol, petrol or diesel – among consumers in Brazil is mainly economic, recalls Szwarc. But he believes this may change: “As people become more environmentally aware,” he says.
*Translated by Mark Ament