The Land Of Liquid Sunshine
Some photos showing Brazil's efforts to convert to alcohol by 1985.
When it comes to having the potential of homegrown alcohol
fuel, the old
adage—"seeing is believing"—will make special
sense to all the folks who join MOTHER. ..
RELATED CONTENT
Long renowned for superior fuel economy, but notorious for foul exhaust, diesel cars have never be...
The EPA is evaluating the impact higher blends of ethanol in regular gasoline would have on engine ...
Those familiar yellow school buses may be the safest way to get our children to school, but they al...
A look at the 2010 VW Golf...
Brazil's Aerospace Technical Center
Centro Tecnico Aerospacial (CTA) is researching renewabl...
Since one picture is worth a good ten thousand words (more
or less) we thought you might like to take a look at some
of the sights in store for everyone who participates in
MOTHER's Alcohol Fuel Tour of Brazil, which will take place
from January 17 to 31, 1981. (The trip was originally
planned to last ten days, but the vast number of things to
see and do in that South American land—combined with
the Cariocan "let's do it tomorrow" attitude -convinced us
that it would be best to stretch out the trip to a full two
weeks!)
The photos accompanying this article were all taken during
a "shakedown trip" made by MOTHER's tour director, Sara
Pacher, and this publication's research coordinator,
Richard Freudenberger.
The pair's intent was to investigate the Brazilian program
that aims to switch that country's vehicles to "liquid
sunshine" by 1985 . . . and MOTHER's staffers came away
impressed with the remarkable progress that has been made
thus far.
All Brazilian gasoline, as an example, now contains 20%
alcohol . . . thousands of cars (including government and
utility fleets) have been converted to run on pure ethanol
. . . especially designed alcohol-fueled cars are presently
pouring off the assembly lines at Brazil's Ford, General
Motors, Fiat, and Volkswagen plants . . . and Mercedes-Benz
(which dominates the country's truck and bus market) has
even converted some Sao Paulo diesel commuter buses to run
on the renewable fuel. (See the article on page 86.)
WHAT IT WILL INCLUDE
In the course of our Brazilian tour, we'll see all those
innovations and take a look at sugar cane
plantations where the crops are distilled on a mass basis .
. . visit the Aerospace Technical Center, where the alcohol
fuel program was largely developed and scientists are now
hard at work researching the best renewable source of
diesel fuel . . . and talk to engineers and
environmentalists -plus one of Brazil's most prominent and
popular physicists-about the nation's brave new experiment
in energy self-sufficiency. Of course, we'll also take some
time to see the sights, shop, and soak up the tropical sun
on Rio's wide, world-renowned beaches . . . which are as
white as Brazilian sugar!
