Issue 10, 2009

Ethanolfuel use in Brazil: air quality impacts

Abstract

Brazil has a long history in the development of ethanol for use as a liquid fuel for vehicles. They have developed one of most efficient and economical systems for producing ethanol in the world. Brazil provides an example that many other countries would like to emulate. Using ethanol as a vehicle fuel has significant potential air quality impacts. This paper will review the available air quality and vehicle emissions data in Brazil, specifically focusing on vehicle related pollutants that may be impacted by the use of large quantities of ethanol in the fuel. The atmospheric concentrations of acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) and ethanol in Brazil are much higher than those in other areas of the world, while the concentrations of the single ring aromatic compounds and small carboxylic acids are more typical of observations elsewhere. Acetaldehyde and ethanol increase in vehicle emissions and nitrogen oxides (NOx) may increase when ethanol fuels are used. Both CH3CHO and NOx are very important contributors to photochemical air pollution and ozone (O3) formation. There are very significant O3 air quality problems in Brazil, most studied in the larger cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. These are issues that must be evaluated for other areas of the world that are considering the use of high ethanol content vehicle fuels.

Graphical abstract: Ethanol fuel use in Brazil: air quality impacts

Article information

Article type
Analysis
Submitted
26 Mar 2009
Accepted
13 Jul 2009
First published
04 Aug 2009

Energy Environ. Sci., 2009,2, 1015-1037

Ethanol fuel use in Brazil: air quality impacts

L. G. Anderson, Energy Environ. Sci., 2009, 2, 1015 DOI: 10.1039/B906057J

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements