The gas stations in Brasil really don’t look any different than the ones here in the states, except that they sell gasoline and alcohol. Brasil produces its ethanol alcohol fuel from sugar cane which it grows itself.
I asked the tour guide about ethanol use, and he said that he had his car converted a few years ago and it paid for itself in a few months. He indicated that he typically starts the car on gas and drives 10 miles a day on gas, and then the rest of the day uses ethanol because it is more effecient. He has a button he can press near the dashboard to instantly switch from gas to ethanol. Very cool.
An Esso fuel station.
Here’s a photo of the engine and the nozzle is fueling up on ethanol.
Here’s a Shell station (it was raining at the time).
2 responses to “Gas Stations in Brasil and Ethanol as Fuel”
I just came back from two weeks in Turkey. Everywhere you go you see a Petrol Ofisi station. It’s like Mobil or Exxon. And the logo is cool but perhaps a little kinky with a dog licking something (supposedly drinking petrol?). You can check it out at http://www.poas.com.tr/
I heard something on the radio the other day that I hadn’t really realized before — nor interestingly never heard disclosed by the oil companies.
The ethanol blends that are appearing in more and more stations contribute to a mileage defficiency in most automobiles. So while burns cleaner, it also burns faster — therfore causing you more trips to fill up on more expensive fuel.