Monday, June 22, 2009

Alternative Fuel

I traveled this weekend 650m km to the border of Brasil and Paraguay, with +Naudal and his son-in-law Emersom. The car was fueled 100% with hydros ethanol which cost about $75 US for the 1300 km round trip. The Fiat sedan is a flex vehicle that can run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol, and pure ethanol is the most economical choice for highway driving. There are no longer any light vehicles in Brasil running on pure gasoline, and Brasil is the world's first sustainable biofuel economy and a leader in its sugarcane ethanol, considered the most successful alternative fuel to date. We drove 90% of the trip on private highways with seven toll stations each direction, paying a total of $50 US. There is a major effort to nationalize the highways, but the lobby and contracts for the privatization is very strong as well. Much of the traffic flow is at 90 to 100 km per hour.

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