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Beet That - Ethanol, Derived From Plants, is Good for Cars and Excellent for the Earth

Posted on: Friday, 17 March 2006, 06:00 CST

By Jim Dunn Motoring Editor

THERE'S a certain smug satisfaction to be gained from driving around and helping to save the planet, particularly when you don't have to pay through the nose for the privilege. Usually there's a premium to be paid - either in the form of a significantly higher asking price for hybrid cars compared with conventionally powered vehicles, or in a lack of performance and cost of conversion with LPG fuelled vehicles.

But there were none of these concerns with the Ford Focus Flexi- Fuel Vehicle I drove recently. It looked and drove like a standard model but it can, apparently, cut emissions by up to 70 per cent with no loss of performance. And at GBP 14,095 it is priced neatly between the 1.6-litre petrol-engined model and the 1.8 diesel- powered Focus, so there's no buyer's premium.

There is, however, a drawback and that is the fact that you can't buy any of the necessary low-emission ethanol anywhere in Scotland at the moment. The fuel I used had been specially imported from Brazil, the world's leading bio fuel nation, which meets around half of its road fuel needs with ethanol made from crops.

But the situation in the UK is, apparently, about to change, with five ethanol plants ready to begin production of the fuel in Somerset and more due to come on stream in the near future.

This week Morrisons opened the UK's first ethanol pump at a store in Norwich, dispensing Harvest BioEthanol E85 which is produced from sugar beet, the crop which, at the moment, looks the most suitable for the fermentation process needed to make alcohol.

It is the first of many outlets the supermarket chain plans to open across the south of England in the next year or so to distribute the new UK-made fuel including that from a major refinery due to be opened by British Sugar in Norfolk early next year.

The attraction of ethanol is that it can be produced from a number of crops, which can be harvested each year so, unlike oil, it is infinitely renewable.

And though the tailpipe emissions are virtually the same as a petrol-powered car, taking into account the amount of carbon dioxide changed into oxygen by photosynthesis during the growing stage of the crops, the overall emissions are considerably less.

The technology is not new and indeed is highly advanced in countries such as Brazil, where ethanol has been produced from sugar beet for decades and provides an important source of the country's energy.

But now the UK government and EU are actively encouraging the setting up of a biofuel industry, and research is going on into what crops are suitable for production of fuel including, apparently, the use of the after-products from whisky production in Scotland.

Owing to the lower calorific value of the fuel, a car needs to burn more of it, but the overall running costs will be the same thanks to a government tax break worth around 20p a litre.

When ethanol is not available, the Focus is perfectly capable of running on ordinary unleaded petrol, and the two can be mixed in the same tank with no problems.

But is there any difference in the way the car drives? None that I could find during a couple of hours behind the wheel of the first ethanol-powered Focus in Scotland, on a trip which took in everything from fast motorway cruising to pottering around town.

The car accelerated just as smartly as the petrol-powered equivalent, it started on the button and there was never any awkward hesitation on part or full throttle.

In the longer term the economics of biofuel depend on how the government treats it for tax purposes, but the strength of the green movement and the need to limit purchases of fuel from overseas would suggest that it will become increasingly popular in coming years.

At the moment the fuel needs a special subsidy equivalent to 20p a litre to make it economically viable but there's hope that as the technology develops and manufacturing starts to benefit from the economies of mass production, the financial case will become even more compelling.

In the short term, the government is aiming for 5 per cent of petrol to be replaced by ethanol - a move equivalent, in environmental terms, to taking a million cars off the road. Given the commissioning of sufficient manufacturing capacity, this could nearly be met simply from using the annual surplus of wheat in the UK.

Longer term, experts suggest Europe could easily grow enough crops to replace 40 per cent of the petrol being used now - and that's enough to make a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles.

In the meantime, those who want to use biofuel as soon as it is available but don't want to be seen at the wheel of a Ford could consider the latest Saab 9-5 BioPower which is the first premium brand car capable of running on the new fuel and costs from GBP 21,651.

Jonathan Nash, managing director of Saab GB, said: "Biofuels can play a crucial role in reducing emissions from passenger cars, and as the government itself said when it announced plans for a Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation in November, a 5 per cent use of biofuels today would be equivalent to taking one million cars off the road."

Mr Nash added: "In Sweden, central and local government financial incentives to encourage BioEthanol-fuelled cars - including a reduction in company car tax, exemption from Stockholm's congestion charges and free city parking - have resulted in over 5,500 Saab 9- 5 BioPower cars already being delivered to Swedish drivers since last summer.

"Here in the UK, Morrisons has demonstrated its commitment to the fuel - now let's see the government do the same."

Source: Scotsman, The

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