Suape Energia of Brazil and the Finnish technology group Wärtsilä began testing the ethanol-fueled power plant engine in June. (Photo courtesy of Suape Energia)
Engineers in Brazil are conducting the world’s first large-scale test of an ethanol-fueled thermoelectric-plant engine, and ethanol boosters forecast the engine will prove capable of reducing power-plant emissions of greenhouse gasses by up to 90%. The two-year testing of the internal-combustion, grid-scale ethanol engine—by the Brazilian energy company Suape Energia and the Finnish technology group Wärtsilä—began in June at the Suape Energia industrial-port complex in northeastern Pernambuco state. If successful, it could build a strong climate-protection case for replacing fossil-fuel power with ethanol energy in thermoelectric stations, experts say. They add it might also justify putting large ethanol engines to other uses, such as replacing ship engines that currently run on highly polluting heavy fuel oil. In Brazil, thermoelectric plants help supply the national grid with electricity and provide backup generating capacity when baseline power-generation falters. They... [Log in to read more]
