Orlando Volpato, Delphi - AEA – Associação Brasileira de ...

Diesel-Ethanol vehicles emit lower levels of toxics and ozone-forming hydrocarbons,
mainly because ethanol emits 8.5 times less CO2 than diesel for the same amount of
energy [24].
In Brazil, there is a big demand for diesel fuel. Looking at data taken form the 2008
edition of the Mines and Energy Ministry’s National Energy Accounting (BEN 2008)
[1] one can see from figures 1 and 2, that 41% of the petrol processed goes to diesel
fuel production; 75% of diesel used goes to road transportation and 16% to
agricultural use.
Considering the energy used for transportation, the vast majority goes to road
transportation 91.8%, railroad transportation accounts for 4.8% of the used energy.
Considering road transportation alone, 51.6% of the energy comes from diesel fuel
and about 19.4% comes from a renewable source (ethanol).
The strong dependence on diesel fuel leads to some interesting import/export
characteristics. Table 1, below, summarizes the import/export volumes and values for
2008.
It is said that Brazil is self-sufficient in petrol. Most of Brazilian’s petrol is of heavy
type, not suited for diesel production, in order to attend the demand for diesel fuel
light petrol and diesel fuel is imported. We have excess heavy petrol and gasoline,
which are exported.
Considering the energy equivalence, in a quick calculation, the volume of petrol and
fuels that are imported/exported the net result is near zero, indicating a self-sufficient
condition. See table 1.
Page 2 of 18
Fig. 1: Petrol derived fuels usage in Brazil