Team Ethanol on a Marathon
Summary
With most predicting a future dominated by electric vehicles, the biofuel industry will live or die by its ability to maintain a sustainable business model that can win over the environmental community and deepen alliances with automakers. I write this column days after attending the 2022 National Ethanol Conference in New Orleans, where industry leaders, environmentalists and policymakers came together to “zero in on new opportunities” and discuss ways to make a low-carbon future a reality. The Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association (UNICA) was honored to be part of the conference and bring the perspective of Latin America and the Southern Hemisphere into a conversation that has worldwide implications. To that end, Volkswagen has partnered with the Brazilian State University of Campinas (UNICAMP) to research fuel-cell technologies that extract hydrogen from ethanol, and batteries made from sugarcane bagasse. To their credit, the major airlines, manufacturers and shippers like FedEx and UPS are advocating policies and testing new sustainable aviation fuels that will pay big climate dividends in the not-too-distant future.