BIO’s “Ethanol-Fueled Vehicles Make Their Way Around the World” surveys Brazil, EU ethanol growth

In addition to surveying synthetic biology (see “Amaizing Microbes: Synthetic Biology Emerges as Key to Biofuels Future”), the organizers of the BIO annual convention (Atlanta, May 18-21) have prepared an excellent summary of progress in ethanol, focusing primarily on Brazil and Europe, titled “Ethanol-Fueled Vehicles Make Their Way Around the World.”

The article notes that all cars made in Brazil since 2006 run on a minimum of E22 ethanol and nearly 20 percent of cars ran on E100, with ethanol prices fixed at 59 percent of the government-mandated gasoline price, which has led to an 80 percent market share for flex-fuel vehicles in Brazil. In Europe, the switch to ethanol is powered by mandates instead of prices, such as the 10 percent ethanol usage mandate in France by 2010.

France is now the largest producer of renewable ethanol, though only 1.1 percent of arable land in the EU is devoted to net biofuels production after dried distiller grains are accounted for.

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