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Green Transportation: Flexible-fuel Vehicles
by Chuck Hall
 Flexible-fuel
vehicles are designed to run on more than one type of fuel; usually
either gasoline or E85 ethanol or both. The advantage of flex-fuel
vehicles is that they come in the about the same sizes and have
about the same performance as their pure gasoline-powered
counterparts. If you can’t find E85 ethanol while you’re
traveling, you can also burn regular gasoline in flex-fuel vehicle.
Ethanol
is a type of alcohol, usually made from corn or other grains in the
United States and from sugar cane in many South American countries,
most notably Brazil. The designation ‘E85’ refers to the amount
of ethanol content in the fuel. The higher the E-number, the higher
the percentage of ethanol content. For example, E85 ethanol contains
85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. You can learn more about ethanol from
the American Coalition for Ethanol at www.ethanol.org.
Ethanol
as a fuel is a mixed blessing. While it is sustainable in that it
comes from plants that can be grown again every year, the process of
converting it to fuel takes more energy than you get out of it. Of
course, this is ultimately true of any fuel, including gasoline. The
difference in fossil fuels is that the energy used to make crude oil
was expended over millions of years. Other methods of producing
ethanol and other types of fuel alcohol are currently under
development. Many of these new methods have the potential of
reducing the energy input required to produce fuel, so ethanol may
become more economical in the future. There are also other types of
alcohol (methanol, for example) that may be more economical in the
long run.
In
South America, sugar cane is used to produce ethanol. Sugar cane is
much easier than corn to convert to ethanol. This means that the
price for ethanol from sugar cane is considerably lower than that of
ethanol from corn. Unfortunately there aren’t many suitable places
in the United States to grow sugar cane right now. Perhaps one of
the very few benefits of global warming is that more of the U.S. may
have the proper climate for the growth or sugar cane in the future.
The only way that flexible fuel vehicles would be
truly sustainable would be if they could burn E100 ethanol with no
gasoline whatsoever. Some flex fuel vehicles can also run on E100
ethanol, but in general it would void the car’s warranty to
deviate from the manufacturer’s recommendation of using E85.
Another thing to consider in using ethanol as an
alternative fuel is the amount of land necessary to grow enough corn
to meet our fuel needs at present consumption rates. The Earth
Policy Institute estimates that in order for the United States to
meet its current energy needs with ethanol alone, we’d need 250
million acres of land dedicated to growing corn for ethanol
production. This is an area roughly the size of Texas, Arizona,
Oklahoma and Louisiana combined! Of course, we could reduce this
amount considerably by practicing fuel conservation or by producing
more efficient vehicles, but even if we didn’t reduce our
consumption demands, consider what a boon to our farmers this would
be!
 An advantage to flexible-fuel vehicles is that they
are available right now. In fact, over 70% of the cars sold in
Brazil last year were flex-fuel, and the trend seems to be catching
on in the United States as well. If you are interested in purchasing
a flexible fuel vehicle, or would like more information, visit the
National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition (http://www.e85fuel.com/). This
site also has information on where you can purchase E85 ethanol near
you.
Chuck
Hall is a Sustainability Consultant and author. His latest book, Green
Circles: A Sustainable Journey from the Cradle to the Grave, is
now available at Booklocker.com.
You may contact Chuck by email at: chuck@cultureartist.org or visit
the Culture Artist Web site at www.cultureartist.org.
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