In the United States, the blending of ethanol into gasoline for use as an automotive fuel began in the 1970s due to high petroleum prices and growing health and environmental concerns over the use of lead in gasoline which created a need for a new source of “octane”.

The Clean Air Act of 1990 set a minimum “fuel oxygenate” in gasoline to reduce carbon monoxide emissions. Ethanol and MTBE (later phased out due to toxicity) were blended to meet the oxygenate requirement.

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Ethanol blending again saw growth with the adoption of the Renewable Fuels Standard law (RFS) in 2006, which was the first regulation requiring renewable content in gasoline. A second round, and most significant, round of rapid growth of ethanol fuel blending began with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, also known as RFS-2.

Today all gasoline sold in the US has a minimum of 10 per cent ethanol (“E10”), with both E15 and E85 growing in use.

The following charts highlight the growth in ethanol production, corn production, and ethanol plant construction from each of the key pieces of legislation. Corn production has been more than adequate to keep up the demand to produce ethanol.

(Since the 1930s, corn production is up 800 per cent, while over the same period land use for corn production is down by 10 per cent.)

The recognized benefits of ethanol fuel blending in the U.S. are:

• Creates well-paying jobs: Ethanol production in 2022 accounted for nearly 79,000 direct and over 330,000 indirect jobs across the country, $57 billion in GDP, and $35 billion in household income.

• Reduced hazardous air pollutants: Use of ethanol to boost octane number allows the removal of competing aromatic hydrocarbons like benzene that are very toxic, worsen air pollution and cause cancer.

• Reduced GHG emissions: The use of ethanol and other biofuels under RFS has reduced GHG emissions by 980 million metric tons (MT) since 2008. In 2021 alone, the use of ethanol reduced GHG emissions by 54.5 million MT, which is like taking 12 million cars off the road for a year.

• Energy security: Ethanol blending replaces imported oil, by as much as 531 million barrels of oil in 2021.

• Higher octane fuels at lower costs: Ethanol is the lowest-cost option to increase fuel octane to meet the growing demand for premium fuels.
• Supports domestic agriculture: Creates farm jobs.
• Lower cost animal feed: Ethanol production produces protein animal feed (“DDGS”) as a co-product. The cost of the protein in DDGS is only 30 per cent of the cost of protein in corn.

Ethanol production in Brazil began in 1933 as a way to overcome excess sugar cane production with the enactment of Brazil’s first ethanol blending mandate. In the early 1970s, as the result of the first global oil crisis, Brazil enacted the Proálcool plan to reduce its dependence on foreign fossil fuels by blending petrol with ethanol. In 1977 legislation required use of 4.5 percent ethanol blends, which has increased over time.

Then beginning in 2015, an ethanol blend mandate of 27 percent (E27) for Gasoline was enacted and remains at this level today. Brazil is currently planning to increase the minimum blend level to 30 per cent (E30). In 2017, the Brazilian congress formalized the National Biofuels Policy programme known as RenovaBio that aims to reduce GHG emissions through the sale and trade of decarbonization credits (CBios). Today there are approximately 350 ethanol plants in Brazil producing 35 million liters (27 million MT annually from sugar cane and corn.

In general in Brazil, the benefits of blending ethanol in gasoline are similar to the situation in the United States.

The key benefits realized in Brazil from ethanol blending include:

• In 1975, imported fossil fuels were 70 per cent. This has now reduced significantly.
• Created jobs in the agricultural sector
• Biofuels can meet more than 70 per cent of Brazil’s fuel demand by 2030 (WWF Study) and thus enhance energy security.
• Reduced GHG and other emissions.
• Created a strong domestic market for flex-fuel vehicles.
• Significant improvements in sugarcane’s productivity

(The writer is Chair, Environment & Green Hydrogen Committee,PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry,Managing Director, Greenstat Hydrogen India Pvt. Ltd., and former Chairman, EAC (Industry- 2),Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Govt. of India. He can be reached at jpglobalconsultinggroup@gmail.com)