FAQ : Use of ethanol petrol, E85 and flexi-fuel vehicles (FFVs)

FAQ

1. Biofuels have been accused of being the main cause of food price increases. Is this true?

After first being touted as the miracle solution for the 21^st century’s climate and energy problems, biofuels are now being accused of all sorts of wrongs. There are many issues surrounding biofuels, and criticism is a needed element in the promotion of better production chains. It is also true that some arguments are biased, and are based more on strong ideological positions than on facts. Many people attributed the sharp rise in food prices in the winter of 2007-2008 to biofuels. However, this supposition was largely incorrect, as the current steep fall in prices (-50%) has borne out. These prices have toppled without any slowdown in the growth of biofuels or reduction in global food consumption. Biofuels played a psychological role during a tense period, but were finally just a minor player in these speculative price movements.

2. Won’t biofuels reduce the land available for subsistence farming and, as a result, provokes serious crises?

The problem of competition for land is real, and it is a difficult one. On this complex issue, you should bear in mind that the FAO has estimated that only 60% of the world’s agricultural land is being exploited, and that the Earth can durably feed 10 to 12 billion people. Increased agricultural efficiency in certain regions of the globe (particularly in Africa) should lead to a tenfold rise in output per hectare compared with today’s figures. Developments in second generation conversion technologies will enable us to use the non-edible parts of plants and so provide a second “energy harvest” from the same plants. Moreover, some of the plants used for second generation biofuels grow on poor or arid soils. They enable regeneration of soils that have lost their fertility and which are not, or are no longer, used for agriculture. All these elements are linked to a kind of green revolution that will need to take place in the Southern countries, and that will have to be based on new agricultural and commercial investment policies and practices. This type of approach has to allow a positive and parallel development of agricultural and biofuel production. However, until the new technologies come on stream, there are areas where food production must remain the top or even the exclusive priority. The long-term management of biofuel development provides an opportunity to alter unjust, unsuitable or inexistent agricultural policies, in a way which benefits the farmers. The sustainability requirements that are now imposed only on biofuels will spill over into subsistence agriculture. Investments that are sorely lacking today will also be generated by the development of biofuels. Obviously, we will have to continue down the path taken by Switzerland, with its new mineral oil taxation law. (See the forthcoming EIA study on the potential uses of biomass) 

3. The ecobalance of biofuels is often questioned - apparently they will not provide the energy gains and CO₂ reductions expected, and will pollute more than petrol. Is this true?

First of all we would emphasize that there is no biofuel ecobalance, because in fact there are many biofuels, a great number of feedstocks, very different types of production, and several evaluation methods (life cycle analysis), which lead to substantially different results for the same product. Generally speaking, today we have the knowledge to enable us to achieve favourable results in terms of CO₂ and energy efficiency, in all the methods. We therefore know that is reasonable to require a 40% to 50% reduction in CO₂ emissions compared with petroleum products. We can even achieve reductions of around 80% for ethanol made from sugar cane or lignocellulosic feedstocks. With regard to energy, biofuels can supply 2 to 8 times more energy than the non-renewable energy consumed in their production.

The ecological result greatly depends on the method used. In certain approaches, the analysis accords a predominant weight to agricultural pollutants. This makes it difficult for biofuels to compete with their petroleum counterparts, which obviously have no agricultural phase and therefore do not emit this kind of pollutants.

If today, agricultural production for many biofuels is too polluting, it is simply because it uses the same questionable practices as traditional agriculture destined for human or animal food. However, we know how to reduce these pollutants too.

4.  Why does consumption go up with E85 and go down with essEnce5?
The calorific value (internal energy) of ethanol is lower than that of petrol (30% less). In E100 (100% ethanol) this property leads to an over-consumption of about 40% - 50%. With the addition of 15% petrol, the blend is more efficient and over-consumption is no more than 15% - 30%. For essEnce5, the effect of ethanol is positive since it oxygenates the fuel, which improves combustion and therefore engine efficiency. Measurement campaigns even show a drop in consumption.

5. What are the advantages of E85 for distributors, administrations, or companies, compared with other fuels?

With E85, the ratio of investment cost to CO₂ gains is very promising. For example, E85 emits three times less CO₂ than natural gas, while the cost of adapting a petrol pump to E85 can be kept to around CHF 15,000 (minimum cost). By comparison, the creation of a natural gas pump costs about CHF 300,000. Moreover, FFVs, unlike natural gas vehicles, can fill up anywhere since they run on both conventional petrol and E85. The price of an FFV is almost the same as that of the basic model, which is not the case for natural gas vehicles.

6. What guarantee is there that the CO₂ reductions from imported products will be as great as those that you calculated for Swiss bioethanol?
In the case of sugar cane, the energy balance and the CO₂ balance are very interesting, thanks to such factors as agricultural yield, and the use of bagasse (cellulose) to provide the industrial heat required for the conversion process. Moreover, transport by ship has only a limited impact on the global CO₂ balance. However the values announced need to be confirmed.

7. So isn't it better to import everything?
Alcosuisse is trying to encourage local production for various reasons - to make Switzerland play its part (since almost 3/4 of all CO₂ emissions are produced in the northern hemisphere, we cannot demand that measures be taken solely by the countries of the South), to contribute to energy independence, to launch a state-of-the-art industry and even, later on, to find new markets for Swiss agriculture, etc. Other European countries have chosen to support their local production through a proactive policy. 

8. The development of ethanol production in Brazil carries its own risk for the environment and for workers' health. What can be done to remedy the situation?
Alcosuisse suggested that a provision be added to the new Law on mineral oil taxation, which would provide for tax exemption to be subject to compliance with sustainable development criteria. Parliament took these arguments on board when it drafted the new Law, and only products obtained from socially and environmentally acceptable production chains will qualify for tax relief. Similar requirements are under discussion on the European level, and the UN is working on a sustainable label for biofuels. Support measures for biofuels are an important element in the establishment of sustainable development requirements. In Brazil, organisations such as WWF support the development of biofuels, provided that the present favourable trends continue (improvements in social and environmental conditions, launch of labels, and moves towards participatory monitoring.)

9. Isn't it a misnomer to talk of bioethanol when agricultural products are not necessarily organically produced?

The "bio" prefix refers to the vegetable nature of the raw material (biomass) as against synthetic ethanol, which is made from petrol. The term agrofuel applies only to products obtained from agricultural production, which is not the case for all biofuels.

10. Which way are ethanol production prices likely to go in Switzerland?

At the moment, the production price is just over 1 franc a litre, which works out at a retail price of CHF 1.20 a litre ex works Delémont, after taking account of all transport, handling, stocking, quality control, etc. The production price should soon drop to about 1 franc a litre.

11. How much does Brazilian ethanol cost?

Before answering that question, we should mention that dehydrated bioethanol (bioethanol fuel) is subject to very high requirements in Europe, which not all the ethanols produced in Brazil meet. Observance of these conditions adds to the cost of production, conditioning, handling, transport, and testing. The idea of the Delémont project is to optimise product quality in Switzerland. This will make for cost reductions, facilitate transport to Switzerland, guarantee extremely high quality, and meet demand.