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Tag Archives: automakers

South America is Ethanol Success Story Says Suzuki

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Suzuki recently announced that they will launch vehicles in the US and Brazil that will run on 100% Ethanol (E100) by the year 2010.  They join other automakers, such as GM, who are already selling flex-fuel vehicles in Brazil.  Company officials point to the strong demand for 100% ethanol fueled vehicles due to the wide availability of cheap ethanol in Brazil.

In Brazil,  45% of all fuel used for automobiles is ethanol made from sugar cane.  This represents a wide-range of mixes, all the way from a 20% ethanol/80% gas mix (E20) up to 100% ethanol (E100).  Brazil has been leading the world in producing ethanol from sugar cane.  While the US has focused heavily on corn-based ethanol production, Brazil has used sugar cane in producing their ethanol.  Using sugar is about three to four times as efficient as corn. 

Currently 20% of all vehicles in Brazil are flex-fuel, yet they are only using 1% of the arable land in Brazil to meet the current ethanol demand.  Industry officials feel that they could easily increase production by two to three times the current production levels.


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Lexington Project

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Well, it appears that John McCain has been following my blog. Today he has kicked off his plan for US Energy Independence, named The Lexington Plan. McCain’s plan states that the U.S. will be independent of foreign energy sources by the year 2025.

For the town where Americans asserted their independence once before,” McCain explained of the plan’s namesake in Virginia. “Let it begin today with this commitment: In a world of hostile and unstable suppliers of oil, this nation will achieve strategic independence by 2025.”

“Much will be asked of industry as well, as automakers and others adapt to this great turn toward new sources of power, a great deal will depend on each one of us, as we learn to make smarter use of energy, and also to draw on the best ideas of both parties, and work together for the common good.”

“That is the scale of our achievement when we set our minds to a task, that is what this country can do when we see a danger, and declare a purpose, and find the will to act.”

As the readers of my blog will notice, that is exactly what we have been saying here for the past several months. If the country focuses, and asks for sacrifice, we can become energy independent in the not too distant future. What a difference that will make across out country, as well as around the world. We can stop the huge transfer of wealth from the US to the Middle East while strengthening our economy.

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