Ethanol an alternative fuel to Petrol

Home / Ethanol an alternative fuel to Petrol

ethanolvehicle

The Ethanol Driven Vehicle Project (EDVP) was initiated in 2006 after a cabinet directive in 2004 whose drive was to explore other sources of fuel for motor vehicles to contribute to economic development.

Ethanol is being used successfully as a vehicle fuel in other countries such as Brazil and USA.

In Malawi, the promotion of increased use of ethanol as an alternative fuel in motor vehicles is expected to contribute to energy self-sufficiency, socio-economic development and environmental protection.

The use of locally produced ethanol complements use of petrol thereby saving foreign exchange and reducing reliance on petroleum fuel. Ethanol produced from molasses and other biomass feedstock is classified as a renewable form of energy of which its use reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter.
In addition, increased ethanol use has a positive net benefit on the economy through stabilizing fuel prices, reduced vehicle running costs, promotion of linkages between ethanol industry and other sectors such as agriculture and its contribution to poverty reduction.

In Malawi, the promotion of increased use of ethanol as an alternative fuel in motor vehicles is expected to contribute to energy self-sufficiency, socio-economic development and environmental protection. The use of locally produced ethanol complements use of petrol thereby saving foreign exchange and reducing reliance on petroleum fuel. Ethanol produced from molasses and other

biomass feedstock is classified as a renewable form of energy of which its use reduces emissions of greenhouse gases, carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter.

In addition, increased ethanol use has a positive net benefit on the economy through stabilizing fuel prices, reduced vehicle running costs, promotion of linkages between ethanol industry and other sectors such as agriculture and its contribution to poverty reduction.

The current total ethanol production is 18 million litres per year which meets the current demand for ethanol use as vehicle fuel and other requirements. This quantity is however inadequate to meet future ethanol requirements due to increased blending of ethanol with petrol, changes in technology due to use of flexi vehicles and projected increase in vehicle population.

Ethanol is handled in the same way as petrol (both are classified in Class 1category of Fire Risk Classification), hence existing infrastructure is capable of storing, handling, transporting and marketing of increased ethanol/ petrol blends and pure ethanol. Additional infrastructure such storage tanks will however be necessary to promote increased use of ethanol.

Existing human resource capacity for vehicle modifications and installation of conversion kits is inadequate. Therefore, there will be need to build capacity for vehicle modifications and installation of conversion kits as more vehicles will run on ethanol.

The use of ethanol increased engine torque hence allows vehicles to be driven in high gear when ascending steep slopes and resulted in reduced vehicle fuel running costs. Without use of conversion kits, the use of ethanol resulted in increased acceleration time, reduced maximum speed, hard start during cold weather and erratic idling. However, performance of all these variables improved after the installation of conversion kit. Therefore, increased use of ethanol would positively impact on vehicle performance.

The internal engine components showed no negative indicators such as corrosion, abnormal wear, tear and abrasion. Valve seals, plugs and tappets were in good working condition; and oil was not contaminated (indicating complete combustion of ethanol). Therefore, the use of pure ethanol did not have any adverse effects on the engine parts.

Modifications required for the carburettor vehicles to run on ethanol include increasing carburettor jets, advancing ignition points, replacing ordinary plugs with high performance plugs and ordinary fuel filter with ethanol compliant filter. Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) vehicles run on pure ethanol without any modifications but require use of conversion kits to improve performance.

Appropriate regulations, procedures and standards are already in place for the effective production, transportation, handling, marketing and use of ethanol. However, there is need to enforce compliance with regulations, procedures and standards.

The following recommendations have been made for policy consideration to promote increased ethanol use:

  • Government should put in place appropriate measures and incentives to increase ethanol
  • production to meet future demand for ethanol, such as providing more land for ethanol feedstock (raw materials) and tax waivers on ethanol infrastructure,
  • Government should put in place measures that oblige fuel distributors to have ethanol as one of the fuels in the service stations thereby giving consumers the choice of fuel they would like to buy,
  • Government should unpeg the price of ethanol from that of petrol so that the price of ethanol should be determined by supply and demand,
  • Government should come up with deliberate policy to introduce flexi vehicles to its fleet thereby promoting use of flexi vehicles,
  • Government should ensure that the ethanol/ petrol blending ratio of 20:80 is complied with by producers and distributors to guarantee sufficient supply of ethanol on the market,
  • Government should ensure that the National Oil Company of Malawi provide storage facilities for ethanol to maintain constant supplies of ethanol throughout the year,
  • Denaturing of ethanol should be carried out prior to any introduction of pure ethanol use as a vehicle fuel to prevent consumption by human beings as an alcohol drink. Therefore, the ethanol standard has to be revised to incorporate the change,
  • Vehicles running on ethanol should use a maximum of 80% ethanol in the fuel during cold weather to mitigate cold start problems,
  • Adequate training should be provided to motor vehicle technicians on vehicle modification and installation of conversion kits,
  • To efficiently run petrol driven vehicles on ethanol at more than 20:80 ethanol/ petrol blending ratio there is need to make necessary changes to carburetor vehicles and install conversion kit in electronic fuel injection vehicles,
  • Increased publicity of ethanol as an alternative fuel to petrol to improve uptake of the technology in the country should be undertaken.