Search for alternative fuel

With the search for alternative fuel or energy for the world in full swing, worldwide the race is on to find alternatives – viable and sustainable alternatives. It is especially the big motor vehicle manufacturers who are the driving force behind all research initiatives, backed up by Government Agencies into alternatives – the reason? He who finds the ideal alternative will rule the motor industry.

Although there are many alternatives being researched and investigated, E85 Ethanol is one of the more viable options with the result that big money are spend on its research. The reason; E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent petrol. It's a clean-burning fuel being touted by US president George Bush and others as the best hope against foreign oil dependence but, if it is to be developed further, will require major investments in infrastructure and huge areas of land to expand its raw material – corn. Critics, however, say it takes too much energy to grow corn and turn it into alcohol and that E85 vehicles are less fuel-efficient than petrol vehicles. Since ethanol has less energy than gasoline, fuel economy drops 10% to 15% when cars run on E85.

It is especially the Volvo Motor Company of Sweden which is very optimistic and very busy to develop E85 to its full potential. Customers, car manufacturers, the government and fuel suppliers in Sweden have worked together to initiate a market for alternative fuels and increasing numbers of drivers are showing interest in environmentally optimised cars.

The sales goal for Sweden was about 6 000 cars in 2006. There are tax benefits for "green" company cars, many local authorities offer them free parking and eco-compatible cars will be exempt from the forthcoming congestion charge in the nation's capital, Stockholm. Tax-free E85 fuel is an economically sound proposition given the current record petrol prices in Sweden, even though the car's fuel consumption is about 40 percent higher since ethanol's energy content is lower. There are more than 280 E85 fuel stations in Sweden.

In the USA it is not always roses and sunshine. There are too few pumps. While there are about 5 million "flexible fuel" vehicles on US roads that can handle E85, there are only 1 145 public stations that offer the fuel nationwide, according to the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition. The nation's roughly 167 000 retail gas outlets have been slow to invest the tens of thousands of dollars it takes to add E85 - especially when certification for the dispensers is in limbo and the market is so new. Many drivers don't even know their recent-model flexible fuel cars can handle E85.ew York officials tried to give E85 a boost through a series of incentives last year under former governor George Pataki, who made ethanol a signature environmental issue.