THE INDY RACING LEAGUE AND BRAZILIAN SUGARCANE ETHANOL

In 2009, UNICA became the official ethanol supplier to the Indy Racing League, the top racing category in the world that has adopted clean, renewable ethanol as its official fuel. Ethanol also enhances engine performance because of its higher octane rating than gasoline. The IRL chose ethanol back in 2007 and, at the time, began using corn ethanol, produced in the United States.

That changed two years later, when Apex-Brasil, the Export Promotion Agency of Brazil’s federal government, became one of the IRL’s global sponsors. Apex saw the Indy League as an important channel to promote Brazilian exports, a perception confirmed by the results obtained from that partnership during its maiden season in 2009: contracts worth US$200 million were negotiated between Brazilian companies and buyers in other countries.

In that context, UNICA negotiated an agreement with the IRL to supply ethanol for the entire 2009 season. At that point, only part of the ethanol used in Indy races was sugarcane-based and produced in Brazil. That will change in 2010, as all of the ethanol used in races throughout the United States, Canada, Japan and the season-opener in São Paulo on March 14, will be sugarcane-based, Brazilian ethanol.

In late 2009, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it considered Brazilian sugarcane ethanol an “advanced biofuel,” able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 61% compared to gasoline. The use of ethanol by the IRL is a clear demonstration that it is possible to combine high performance with low CO2 emissions.

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Credits: IMS Photos

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