Ferrari to use bioethanol in its F-1 cars next season

Brazilian energy company Raizen and Shell have clinched a deal with Ferrari to supply biofuel to its Formula One team next year.

The team will begin using 10% second generation ethanol blend in its fuel from next season.

The International Automobile Federation (FIA) wants all racing cars to use only sustainable fuels by 2025.

The second-generation ethanol to be used by Ferrari is made of sugarcane bagasse.

Second-generation ethanol is already produced in a Raizen unit in Sao Paulo state and raises ethanol productivity by 50% without adding planted area, according to Raizen.

The company is building a second factory to produce cellulosic ethanol, Reuters reported, which will raise annual second-generation ethanol capacity from 40 million litres to 120 million litres by 2023.

“We currently produce 4 billion litres of first-generation ethanol, so we could have additional 2 billion litres of second generation with no increase in planted area" said Raizen CEO Ricardo Mussa.

Mussa said each new unit to produce second-generation ethanol costs between 800 million reais (€127 million) and 1 billion reais (€160 million).

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