Ethanol and electricity: Fueling or fooling the future of road passenger transport?
Anderson Giehl,
Natalia Klanovicz,
Aline Frumi Camargo,
Maria Luíza Rodrigues Albarello,
Helen Treichel,
Sérgio Luiz Alves, Jr
Affiliations
Anderson Giehl
Laboratory of Yeast Biochemistry (LabBioLev), Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biotechnology and Bioscience, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Natalia Klanovicz
Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocesses (LAMIBI), Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, RS, Brazil; Department of Chemical Engineering, Research Group in Advanced Oxidation Processes (AdOx), Escola Politécnica, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Aline Frumi Camargo
Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocesses (LAMIBI), Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biotechnology and Bioscience, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Maria Luíza Rodrigues Albarello
Graduate Program in Biotechnology and Bioscience, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Helen Treichel
Laboratory of Microbiology and Bioprocesses (LAMIBI), Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Erechim, RS, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biotechnology and Bioscience, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil
Sérgio Luiz Alves, Jr
Laboratory of Yeast Biochemistry (LabBioLev), Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Chapecó, SC, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biotechnology and Bioscience, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil; Corresponding author at: Federal University of Fronteira Sul, Campus Chapecó. Highway SC-484, Km 02, Chapecó, SC 89815-899, Brazil.
The vast majority of countries arguably agree that the planet is reaching a point of no return regarding global warming and climate change. Proof of that is the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement, ratified by almost every nation worldwide. However, despite signing both great commitments, the states have made too little to meet the sustainability plans. Among the targets, renewable energy sources stand out to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, but still, petrol wells continue to be drilled, and vehicle assemblers keep investing in new technologies for running their cars with fossil fuels. At the same time, government policies seem to be betting all their chips on electric engines, as if electricity were the best substitute for oil. This critical review analyses the pros and cons of such alternative fuel for road passenger transport, also taking into account another potential substitute for gasoline: bioethanol. In the following pages, we address the challenges and avenues of both alternatives and demonstrate that diversification of the global energy matrix and the biomass feedstocks should be our guiding principles.
