With the environment a hot topic in the motor industry all manufacturers are looking at means to reduce CO₂ emissions. One proven way is to use bio-ethanol, a fuel that’s developed from crops rather than coming from an oil well. E85 is still relatively rare in the UK, this 85% bio-ethanol 15% petrol mix a possible solution to reducing CO₂. If only you could find a pump…

What is it?

It’s a Ford C-Max Flexifuel, which means if you can find one of the handful of E85 bio-ethanol pumps in the UK you’ll be doing your bit for the environment. It looks - stickers on this demonstration example aside - exactly like a conventional petrol or diesel powered C-Max, though it runs on E85 bio-ethanol. Ford, and the many other advocates of the fuel, claims that by using bio-ethanol, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by between 30 and 80% depending on how the bio-ethanol is created. The thinking is that the plants that are grown to produce the fuel actually absorb CO₂ when growing. For Ford’s 1.8-litre engine, independent research by the Imperial College London suggests that the 169g/km of CO₂ at the tailpipe actually equates to 99.6g/km when the absorption by crops grown to produce the fuel is factored in.

How does it drive?

Exactly like its petrol relative. Seriously, there’s no discernable difference behind the wheel at all. It’s fuelled - assuming you can find an E85 pump - in exactly the same way as you’d fuel a petrol car too. Thankfully, should you not be within range of an E85 pump the Flexifuel Ford is just as happy to run on conventional petrol. When running on the greener fuel you’ll find that a tank doesn’t last as long, bio-ethanol not having the same calorific content as conventional petrol. However, cheaper pump prices should offset the higher fuel consumption when running on E85. We’re big fans of the C-Max here, it driving with verve that’s unusual in the practical compact MPV class. Making it a bit greener only adds to its appeal.

Planet hugger or planet mugger?

It’s definitely a step in the right direction in reducing CO₂ emissions and our dependence on oil, but there are issues with bio-ethanol. Fuel crops are potentially very lucrative for farmers and there’s some genuine fear out there that food production will be dropped in favour of fuel production. Some of the farming techniques used to create fuel crops - and the processes to convert those crops into fuel - are often CO₂ intensive too. It’s a partial solution to a big problem, though if managed in a sustainable manner then it could be a good means to reduce CO₂ output and the need to drill for oil. However, for it to really work in the UK we need far more E85 pumps; there are currently only a handful, and E85 enabled cars running on petrol are no more green than their petrol alternatives.

Verdict

There’s a lot to like about the E85 C-Max, as it’s just a regular C-Max that happens to be able to stop at a different pump on the fuel forecourt. CO₂ reductions are to be welcomed, but if you’re not lucky enough to live near an E85 pump then you’d be better spending the extra money a Ford Flexifuel vehicle costs over a conventional one on solar panels for the roof of your house or setting up a car sharing scheme to reduce your CO₂. Like a lot of green technologies it’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation; the fuel infrastructure needing to be in place for the cars to use it, and the cars to use it need to be running around for the fuel companies to put the pumps of their forecourts.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 at 8:39 pm and is filed under Automotive. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.