Potential of Sugarcane Ethanol as Fuel for Vehicle in Malaysia

摘要

Climate change threat is rapidly increasing with the rise in global temperatures, largely due to emissions of harmful greenhouse gases. In Malaysia, the transportation sector is the main contributor of these emissions as most of the vehicles are still running on fossil fuels. Countries such as Brazil have already focused on their resources into cultivating biofuels, sugarcane ethanol. Sugarcane ethanol produced from sugarcane fermentation and can effectively be used as an ethanol-gasoline blend or as 100% pure ethanol fuel, in spark ignition engine vehicles. Malaysia's suitable weather and agricultural capabilities allow to produce high yield of sugarcane, that lead to the potential alternative source of fuel. This paper will discuss on the study of the impact of the economy and environment of sugarcane ethanol that lead to its potential as a fuel for vehicles in Malaysia. Previous studies show the use and the production sugarcane ethanol give impacts to the economy, with the unit cost price of sugarcane ethanol being RM 0.22 per litre. The results also proved that the production and use of bioethanol positively impacted the environment, with total carbon savings increase with the increase in bioethanol concentration. Better economy and environmental results subsequently proved the positive impact towards society.