Car electrification unlikely to erase market for ethanol, says producer

The global movement by governments and automakers to boost electrification of cars does not mean ethanol will be dead as a product, according to an executive of one of the world’s largest producers of the biofuel.

Beyond the demand that will continue to exist in countries that produce the biofuel and where adoption of EVs is seen as slower, such as Brazil and India, there are industries that will need to use biofuels to reduce emissions where electrification is not a feasible option, said Paula Kovarsky, chief strategy officer at Brazil’s Raizen SA.

In an interview in New York, where she is for the cycle of climate conferences in the coming week, Kovarsky said that so-called ‘hard to abate’ sectors such as shipping and commercial aviation are strong targets for the future of biofuels, as well as electric cars that could use fuel cells for conversion of ethanol into hydrogen to move electric motors.