The rise and fall of ethanol - what happened?

“The environmental fuel of the future” - so many looked at ethanol 10-20 years ago. Sweden would become a world leader. Saab, which was still a car manufacturer to be expected, celebrated success with biopower. Volvo, Ford and Volkswagen hung with flexifuel and multifuel.

Swedish politicians fired with benefits to attract people to buy ethanol car: Environmental car premium, free parking, exemption from congestion tax, lower vehicle tax and reduced benefit value were some. Fuel E85 itself - 85 percent liquor and 15 percent gasoline - also received tax relief. Carbon dioxide emissions would go down.

In 2006 came the pumping act, which forced all gas stations that sold more than a certain volume to also provide renewable fuel. Most brokers chose to invest in ethanol pumps. Those who did not think they could afford had to close.

And the success came. In 2008-2010, almost every fourth car was sold as an ethanol car and around Sweden, the cars' fuel tanks were filled with hundreds of thousands of cubic meters E85.

Then everything turned. E85 gained a reputation for causing engine problems while raising questions about the environmental benefit of producing vehicle fuel from crops that could become food. In addition, it suddenly became expensive to drive on liquor, and sales collapsed.

- The politicians decided that the ethanol market was ripe and shook off all economic carrots at once. Instead, diesel cars came to the fore before realizing how dirty they were and electric cars became the hottest, says Per-Arne Karlsson, sustainability manager at the fuel company ST1.

His view that politicians are trend-sensitive is shared by Lena Nordgren, biofuels expert at the chemical company Sekab, which, among other things, produces ethanol fuel for heavy vehicles. She believes that there is no insight into the wisdom of letting a mix of sustainable alternatives work together to reduce the need for fossil fuels. Instead, they have had to replace each other.

- Fresh was ethanol, then diesel and now it's batteries. This jerkiness is devastating for consumers who never know what applies in the long run, she says.

Today, the Bonus-Malus system directs all economic carrots to subsidize battery and hybrid cars.

Fine-owned St-1 is one of the few energy companies that is still highlighting E85 as a fuel for the future. But the company's sustainability manager Per-Arne Karlsson is worried that it will soon be too late for a return, despite the investments made. A few years ago, there were 2000 gas stations in Sweden. Today there are 1700 left and they are declining at an ever faster rate.

In France, development is going in the opposite direction. There, sales of both E85 and ethanol cars are increasing rapidly, and many gasoline cars are being converted to ethanol. Perhaps not so strange since a liter of E85 costs 7-8 SEK in France. In Sweden closer to 13.

- In addition to having cheaper locally produced ethanol, in France they have cross-subsidized the fuel by paying extra for gasoline, which may not be entirely according to EU rules. So cheap E85 will hardly be here, but if the volumes increased, we Swedish sellers could also go down in price some or some SEK, says Per-Arne Karlsson.

The most expensive was E85 2015 when the government - with reference to the EU - introduced an ethanol tax that made environmental fuel the absolute most expensive one could drive. When a few years later completely redone and removed the tax, the car dealers had given up - new ethanol cars could no longer be purchased.

Given also, the owners of the 212,385 ethanol-registered cars that at the turn of the year seem to have done the roads. Sales statistics clearly show that almost all have been refueled with gasoline in recent years, despite the fact that the fuel cost per mile has usually been lower on E85. One reason may be convenience - anyone who runs on ethanol needs to refuel more often.

Another reason why so few drive on liquor are the engine problems that many ethanol cars suffered around 2010. Some deliveries E85 contained high levels of sulphate, which caused the fuel injection to clog again. Often, car owners had to pay for the repairs themselves, as neither fuel suppliers nor car manufacturers wanted to take responsibility. According to the industry, sulfate problems are gone today, but they gave the E85 a bad reputation that seems to have gotten stuck.

Others questioned the utility of producing fuel from food (ethanol is produced, among other things, from cereals and corn, see fact box). From being considered the neighborhood's environmental heroes, those who drove on E85 turned insane individuals who contributed to deforestation and took food from starving children. According to recent findings, the criticism was largely based on research based on American production conditions.

Ironically, the E85 has become environmentally better at roughly the same rate as sales have decreased. Ethanol can now be manufactured from inedible residual products such as straw and sawdust. By allowing the residues from grain fermentation to become animal feed and selling the carbon dioxide to the soft drink industry, a Swedish ethanol manufacturer has achieved an 80 percent carbon dioxide reduction compared to fossil fuels. But the "finetanol" goes on exports to Germany, among others.

Already in 2011, the energy authority stated that driving on the E85 meant at least half the climate impact compared to gasoline. According to Per-Arne Karlsson at St-1, there will be even more in the long run.

- Ethanol production is becoming more climate-friendly at all times, and within 5-10 years we can replace the fossil-free components with the 15 percent of E85. Then you have a fuel that is 100 percent fossil-free and that most petrol cars can run on.