Autoline on Autoblog with John McElroy
by John McElroy on Oct 30th 2009 at 4:01PM 
Brazil's E100 Drives Innovative Fuel Injection
A few weeks ago Rio de Janeiro landed the 2016 Olympics largely thanks to the fact that Brazil is climbing up the rank of nations. It has grown to become the 10th largest economy in the world and a key reason has to do with the country's energy policy.
By committing heavily to ethanol, Brazil no longer imports oil to make fuel. That means the country now has a trade surplus and a positive balance of payments. The economy is growing while unemployment is dropping. Ethanol doesn't get all the credit for Brazil's impressive growth, but it's playing a significant role. Instead of talking about kicking its oil addiction, Brazil did it.
An unexpected side benefit of committing to ethanol is that Brazil is also taking the lead in developing new fuel injection systems that allow cars to run on pure ethanol (E-100). This is arguably the first time that Brazil has ever taken the lead on automotive technology.
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John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit" and daily web video "Autoline Daily". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
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You can buy two types of cars in Brazil: ones that run on gasoline, or flex-fuel cars that can run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol. (Diesels are banned in passenger cars.) Yet, even the gasoline cars have to be highly tolerant of ethanol. All the gasoline in Brazil is blended to E-22. At a time when the United States is still debating whether it's prudent to blend anything higher than E-10, Brazil blew through that number over a decade ago.
There are technical challenges to running engines on pure ethanol. Cold-starts are an issue even in a tropical country like Brazil. At temperatures less than 13°C (about 55°F) ethanol doesn't vaporize well, making it hard to start an engine.
To compensate for this, E-100 engines in Brazil start and run on gasoline for the first 90 seconds or so. This requires a separate gas tank, which for packaging reasons, is located under the hood. It looks like an extra windshield washer fluid container that holds about a half a gallon and uses the same kind of pump as the washer bottle. But automakers don't like this arrangement because most motorists in Brazil rarely see the temperature drop below 13°C. That means they can go months on end before their car has to start on gasoline, meaning the gas can go bad or even gum up.
Moreover, it's inconvenient for motorists to have to fill two different tanks from two different pumps at the gas station. And who wants to pump gasoline into a tank that's located under the hood next to the hot engine?
To eliminate the need to use gasoline for cold starts, Brazilian automakers are now developing new fuel injection systems that preheat the ethanol. Bosch and Magnetti-Marelli have come up with glow plugs that are located in the fuel rail. This involves a slight delay of about six seconds before the engine can be cranked up. Delphi has come up with a new type of fuel injector that incorporates a heating element within the injector itself. And Denso is working on some kind of induction heating for injectors but so far not a lot of information has come out about this.
I just got back from Brazil where I got to drive an E-100 car (Ford Ecosport). If nobody told you it ran on E-100 you'd never know the difference.
Using ethanol generates passionate pro and con debate in the United States. But Brazil is well past the debating stage and is reaping the benefits of this energy policy.
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A few weeks ago Rio de Janeiro landed the 2016 Olympics largely thanks to the fact that Brazil is climbing up the rank of nations. It has grown to become the 10th largest economy in the world and a key reason has to do with the country's energy policy.By committing heavily to ethanol, Brazil no longer imports oil to make fuel. That means the country now has a trade surplus and a positive balance of payments. The economy is growing while unemployment is dropping. Ethanol doesn't get all the credit for Brazil's impressive growth, but it's playing a significant role. Instead of talking about kicking its oil addiction, Brazil did it.
An unexpected side benefit of committing to ethanol is that Brazil is also taking the lead in developing new fuel injection systems that allow cars to run on pure ethanol (E-100). This is arguably the first time that Brazil has ever taken the lead on automotive technology.
____________________________________________________________________________________
John McElroy is host of the TV program "Autoline Detroit" and daily web video "Autoline Daily". Every week he brings his unique insights as an auto industry insider to Autoblog readers.
____________________________________________________________________________________
You can buy two types of cars in Brazil: ones that run on gasoline, or flex-fuel cars that can run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol. (Diesels are banned in passenger cars.) Yet, even the gasoline cars have to be highly tolerant of ethanol. All the gasoline in Brazil is blended to E-22. At a time when the United States is still debating whether it's prudent to blend anything higher than E-10, Brazil blew through that number over a decade ago.
There are technical challenges to running engines on pure ethanol. Cold-starts are an issue even in a tropical country like Brazil. At temperatures less than 13°C (about 55°F) ethanol doesn't vaporize well, making it hard to start an engine.
To compensate for this, E-100 engines in Brazil start and run on gasoline for the first 90 seconds or so. This requires a separate gas tank, which for packaging reasons, is located under the hood. It looks like an extra windshield washer fluid container that holds about a half a gallon and uses the same kind of pump as the washer bottle. But automakers don't like this arrangement because most motorists in Brazil rarely see the temperature drop below 13°C. That means they can go months on end before their car has to start on gasoline, meaning the gas can go bad or even gum up.Moreover, it's inconvenient for motorists to have to fill two different tanks from two different pumps at the gas station. And who wants to pump gasoline into a tank that's located under the hood next to the hot engine?
To eliminate the need to use gasoline for cold starts, Brazilian automakers are now developing new fuel injection systems that preheat the ethanol. Bosch and Magnetti-Marelli have come up with glow plugs that are located in the fuel rail. This involves a slight delay of about six seconds before the engine can be cranked up. Delphi has come up with a new type of fuel injector that incorporates a heating element within the injector itself. And Denso is working on some kind of induction heating for injectors but so far not a lot of information has come out about this.
I just got back from Brazil where I got to drive an E-100 car (Ford Ecosport). If nobody told you it ran on E-100 you'd never know the difference.
Using ethanol generates passionate pro and con debate in the United States. But Brazil is well past the debating stage and is reaping the benefits of this energy policy.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Colin Smith 4:18PM (10/30/2009)
The problem with this ethanol thing is; if the US grew corn for ethanol on all its agricultural land surface there would only be enough fuel for one quarter of the cars on the road today. And nothing to eat.
Brazil makes ethanol from sugar cane, which is far more productive, however, the price of sugar in Brazil has recently rocketed, causing riots. Add in the small fact that the sugar cane is grown on destroyed rain forest , and that it needs fertilizers, made from natural gas, to be productive, and you have a more complicated, and far less productive non-solution to the energy crisis.
Sorry to be a realist here.
Reply
jpm100 4:26PM (10/30/2009)
The US doesn't have to use it.
But other countries will start buying it from us or the biostocks to make it themselves.
adam1drift 4:37PM (10/30/2009)
@Colin Smith
I totally agree and this is what has always been the matter with ethanol. There are things we can do to be more productive with it and not make it out of a food source, but still we’ll never be able to produce enough to fuel all of our vehicles.
I don’t think that we should stop using it all together but know that it could never replace gas as the fuel that drives America.
AngeloD 8:59PM (10/30/2009)
This article repeats some serious myths about Brazil's ethanol fuel program that should be challenged. The article states:
"By committing heavily to ethanol, Brazil no longer imports oil to make fuel. That means the country now has a trade surplus and a positive balance of payments"
First, Brazil never acheived anything close to an E100 fleet. At best, the majority of vehicles ran on E40 at best.
Second, Brazil's energy policy has shifted during the past five years heavily towards offshore oil exporation and extraction. In fact, Brazil only achieved energy independence and a positive balance of payments after several massive offshore fields were discovered and developed and the oil exported to the US, Europe, and the far east. The ethanol fuel program never came even close to giving Brazil energy independence.
Colin Smith 9:22PM (10/30/2009)
Very well put. And the off shore deposits, although very large (seemingly) will be massively expensive to exploit and go no way to compensating for the decline of older, larger and more productive fields elsewhere, like those in Saudi Arabia.
The fact is, Brazil has a burgeoning population that of itself will kill economic expansion as it makes increasing demands for power that cannot be met. This is what is happening in the rest of the world and Brazil will be no different.
Volk 9:23PM (10/30/2009)
Expensive sugar? That's other benefits - may be there will less obese ah... I want to put another word, but it would be politically incorrect, so let's say less obese people.
dr3widgho5t 2:39AM (10/31/2009)
@ Colin Smith
The problem with this electric car thing is those lead-acid batteries. They have a very low energy to mass ratio. Plus, you know how batteries need water top ups, well figuring an ev needs a lot batteries mean we all will get water on the interior electrical. Not good for electronics. Plus, there are so many people need the water and we selfishly use it in our cars. Does everyone know about the toxicity of lead? Some bad stuff there. Not sure of the acid used but I imagine it would be highly corrosive/toxic also.
So that leaves the bunny and the coppertop and their linup of alkalines. Now imagine the ENTIRE interior covered in AA or AAA batteries. How long to change the batteries?
Sorry to be a realist here
Colin Smith 8:21AM (10/31/2009)
Batteries? Electric cars?
I am merely commenting on what I see as the fallacy of believing bio-fuels can in any meaningful way be a substitute for mineral oil. I don't have a solution that can allow us to carry on as usual. My belief is that the current economic downturn is more caused by the pressure on energy supplies than by the greed and incompetence of bankers and politicians. I am certain, however, that the car and consumption based economy which has obtained for the last one hundred and more years cannot continue, and we are now being hurt as it flails itself to death.
Sanders 4:25PM (10/30/2009)
How many millions of acres and counting of the Amazon have they cleared to make room for farmland for ethanol crops? Pesticide and herbicide run-off? Water table contamination? Soil erosion? Species destroyed? Natives relocated? Other unforeseen issues? Time will only tell if It's going to come back and bite them in the rear.
Reply
jpm100 4:22PM (10/30/2009)
When you and the CO2 global warming folks can agree which tact your want, less CO2 or more rainforest, get back to us. Thanks.
Sanders 4:26PM (10/30/2009)
Get your eyes checked. Did you see anything in there about CO2? The environmental concerns I voiced are in the here and now.
PumaGTO 4:28PM (10/30/2009)
as a matter of fact, not a single square meter of amazon soil is being used to pant sugar cane, simple because the amazon soil is completely useless for that end. 90% of all ethanol in Brazil cames from São Paulo, that if you reserch a map, wich is as far away from amazon as from Africa and has as many indians as New York.
Rick C. 4:30PM (10/30/2009)
You forgot to add social concerns regarding those food riots. But it's nothing a good military couldn't handle--throngs of standing civilians make good targets.
Rick C. 4:31PM (10/30/2009)
And before anyone gets upset at that statement, I was being sarcastic.
Kelv00n 5:43PM (10/30/2009)
@jpm100
Dunno if you realize, but based on what you said, this is actually a case of "you can have your cake and eat it too." Trees, it turns out, absorb CO2, which means the more trees we have, the less CO2 in the air. Amazing what you can learn when you don't drop out of Kindergarten.
galonga 5:44PM (11/28/2009)
"How many millions of acres and counting of the Amazon have they cleared to make room for farmland for ethanol crops?"
NONE: sugarcane does NOT grow in the amazon.
"Time will only tell if It's going to come back and bite them in the rear."
That "time" doesn´t seem to come, as they have had this program for OVER 30 years.
READ before you state junk like this please. :)
Salty Gator 4:21PM (10/30/2009)
Brazil can keep thier E100.
Reply
galonga 5:46PM (11/28/2009)
... and their OIL INDEPENDENCY as well, for all you care :)
Rick C. 4:26PM (10/30/2009)
I admire the part about the trade surplus and the likely employment gains from self-investment. But as it was echoed above, at what long term cost? I don't see this as being sustainable for a country of 190 million people and growing.
Reply
PumaGTO 4:37PM (10/30/2009)
you do have a point there. Ethanol made sense in Brazil during the 70's oil crysis (serch for "pro álcool" at wikipedia) and the population was half what it is today. Now the only reason ethanol is back is because of the publicity. It still alive today because gasoline is overloaded with taxes and diesel cars are forbidden. Like countless other things in Brazil, ethanol is pure politic BS, but at least it´s getting world´s attention.