In a post Inconvenient Truth world, there is little doubt left in our minds that global warming is real. The world’s scientists have given us 10 years to live before we are sent spinning into a catastrophe of floods, heat waves, droughts, and extreme weather. It is no longer an issue that we can ignore, and is one that we all have to take seriously. Global warming and an increasingly deteriorating environment is something that no responsible citizen should ignore, no matter how far away the problem still seems to some. We can no longer stand idly by, hoping that someone else will take care of Earth’s problems for us. When oil prices peaking at US$147.30 per barrel in July 2008, the greater part of the planet felt the sting. Not only was there an immediate surge in petrol prices, everything was affected, including food prices at our local grocery stores.
To combat these problems, we start to take an interest in renewable energy, which is simply energy that can be generated from renewable natural resources such as wind and sunlight. Unbeknownst to many, ethanol, the same type of alcohol found in our favourite liquor bottles, is fast becoming one of the most-used renewable energy sources in certain parts of the world.
A novel idea, you say. Not quite. The use of ethanol fuel isn’t some far-fetched story out of Weird Science that would come to us only in the era of flying vehicles and intelligent robots. In fact, in 1896, Henry Ford’s first car (the Quadricycle), was created to run on pure ethanol. It would not be until a dozen years later however, in 1908, that Ford’s famous Model T, capable of running on ethanol, gasoline or both would be produced. As early as 1921, there were 500 cars running on ethanol fuel in the Northeastern state of Brazil of Pernambuco.
A common practice is to blend ethanol with gasoline, resulting in the alcohol fuel mixture of E85, used widely in Sweden and the United States. An article published by The Guardian in 2006 reports that the Scandinavian nation plans to be oil-free in 15 years through a combination of bio-fuels, wind, and water. While other countries are devising bio-fuels programmes at present, Sweden already has 20 years of ethanol experience in its green tank having tested its first ethanol-fuelled bus in 1986. In the United States, there are currently around 1900 ethanol-friendly stations; Wal-Mart will soon jump on the bandwagon with talks of selling E85 at its gas stations countrywide. Here on our friendly shores, I have seen only one car driving on CNG which belongs to the environmentally-conscious fiance of one of my girlfriends though I’m sure there are plenty more. The few CNG cars on local roads may be due to the fact that the tank takes up a considerable amount of space, and there are only 3 or 4 refuelling stations on the island.
In Brazil, the world’s largest ethanol producer, the use of renewable energy sources is certainly no novelty. Considered an industry leader and the first nation to possess a sustainable biofuels economy, Brazil has long been ahead of the game in terms of both the production and use of ethanol fuel. Using sugarcane as a primary means of production, the ethanol fuel programme in Brazil (a programme that dates back 30 years) is a model that the rest of the world should be interested in following. In Brazil, one will not find any light vehicles that run on pure gasoline.
Unfortunately, even in countries like Brazil, the use of ethanol fuel does not mean that there is little demand for the use of petroleum-based products. The country still consumes millions of barrels of oil per day, compared to a few hundred thousand barrels of ethanol.
To add to this, bio-fuels such as ethanol do not guarantee, by any means an improvement in the world’s environmental condition. There are still issues to be dealt with, like deforestation that can occur to prepare land for production of biofuel feedstock crops such as sugarcane. Countries are eager now to run trials of vehicles powered by bio-fuels; a quick and painless injection to fight global environmental deterioration. Leaders of the world look to Brazil who is at the frontline as the world’s most successful bio-fuels producer and leading exporter. Most of the world’s bio-fuels would have to come from Brazil; as the world’s fifth-largest country, the South American nation has the land to spare. To grow crops required for biofuel, a large part of the Amazon (60% of the Amazon lies in Brazil) is cleared, and scientists predict deforestation will eventually push the Amazon to an irreversible tipping point that will mark the death of the Amazon making the bizzare weather experienced now around the world a day in the park compared to what is to come.
Then there are also many who have expressed concern that the use of food products for fuel may be having a detrimental effect on food prices and supply around the world. The increased dependency on ethanol in the United States may have sent corn prices flying, affecting developing countries in Central and South America where corn is a major part of the diet.
With all that said, this is merely my two cents worth as I am certainly not qualified to debate the pros and cons of the intricacies of ethanol production, and to show you that great cocktails, hangovers, and debauchery are not the only things alcohol can bring to this world!
Artwork by Stefan McIntosh [maclatino@hotmail.com].
