Ethanol

Sweden is no. 3 in Europe in the use of ethanol as a fuel for vehicles, right after France and Germany. The latter countries being quite large in comparison to Sweden, its quite an achievement. Like in many things, there is much that could be improved.

The silly part is that most of the E85 that the numerous Swedes (and me) driving an ethanol-capable car put to their tanks comes from Brazil and is made from sugar cane (EU has a special agreement on lower tariffs for Brazilian ethanol). This is fuel is a first generation ethanol-product, as in difference to second generation fuel, which is synthetic.

The great controversy usually associated to producing ethanol from plants is the risk of it replacing food crops in developing countries and thus raising food prices. Considering the fact that ethanol is much more environmentally friendly pollution-wise compared to fossils, this disadvantage has been seen as the major stumbling-block for large-scale adoption of ethanol as fuel.

So far the supply of second generation product is very limited. Finnish chain ST1 recently bought all the Shell stations in Sweden, but they have not launched their advanced second generation RE85 fuel in Sweden, which is made of waste. Yes, waste. No need to import anything, the fuel can be produced 'locally', which again reflects into the cost and environmental effect of transport etc.

Excellent.

And did I mention, ethanol has a higher octane rating than gasoline. This paired with an engine that is optimized for ethanol (and lets not forget turbocharging) gives results that are fun-fun. There are some prime examples of good Swedish engineering, say Saab Biopower or Koenigsegg CCXR (1020hp on ethanol!). All of this makes me glad at the fuel pump.

Maybe logic, but slowly

What good is an EU?

Well, just read a delightful story on Wired. EU is moving to standard, one-for-all mobile phone charger starting in 2011. Irrationally all mobile phones have come with a charger, and the old one has been chucked to the bin, every time, once a year for many people.

It is about time that action is taken regarding the ridiculous amount of unnecessary waste produced by our unsustainable economy. EU has other measures of rationalization ongoing as well, such as aiming for maximum recycling of metals as a part of its raw materials strategy.

Its really not so hard to make big improvements with technology that has existed for a long long time. How about a magnet powered bike light instead of a batterypowered?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0017GA09W/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=sporting-goods&qid=1191814251&sr=8-1


It is very strange, that even though T-model Ford that was introduced 1908 had a 'flexifuel' engine (it can use either gasoline, ethanol or any mixture of the two), only now 2nd generation biofuels are coming to market - such as the advanced ethanol produced from waste by ST1 in Finland. Additionally, Mr. Porsche introduced the first hybrid car in 1900 (Lohner-Porsche Mixte Hybrid), which had a friction free drivetrain. It took some time before Toyota Prius hit the market after that. Now why is that?