Covid-19 has brought us challenges and learnings. Society should already have raised concerns about public health issues: not in the sense of increasing the number of hospital beds, but to avoid illness. Pollution, especially air pollution, is one of the biggest public health problems in the world.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about 90% of the planet's population lives in places where air quality is in discordance with the recommended standards. WHO also points out that pollution is responsible for 7 million premature deaths per year worldwide. According to a report by the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP), India records more than 2 million pollution-linked deaths a year, followed by China and Nigeria. One of the major reasons being rapid increase in industrial and vehicular pollution in India’s metros. 

Scientists point out that the fall in pollution registered during the quarantine is so sharp that if we had the current rates before the pandemic thousands of lives would be saved. The Harvard School of Public Health TH Chan in Boston reports that there is a direct link between higher mortality rates from Covid-19 and air pollution. People that live in cities with bad air quality are 15% more likely to die from the disease than the ones residing in less polluted places.

In New York, carbon monoxide emissions from automobiles decreased 50% during social isolation compared to last year, according to Columbia University. One of the most polluted capitals in the world, New Delhi registered a 71% drop in particulate matter (PM 2.5) levels - from 91 micrograms of particles per cubic meter (µg/m3) to just 26 µg/m3. In November 2019 the city reached about 700 µg/m3 forcing the authorities to declare a public health emergency.

Research published in 2017 by physicist Paulo Artaxo, from the University of São Paulo (USP), proves that gasoline increases the emission of nanoparticles by 30%. The matter stays suspended in the air and penetrates the deepest parts of the lungs compromising the respiratory system. 

In its complete cycle, ethanol produced from sugarcane provides a reduction of up to 90% in CO2 emissions compared to gasoline. Due to its plant origin, photosynthesis absorbs carbon dioxide from combustion in the vehicle, providing a low net GHG emission. Since 2003, ethanol use in Brazil has averted the emissions of 628 million tons of CO2 in the atmosphere, an equivalent of planting 4 billion trees.

Thanks to ethanol and flex fuel cars, the largest metropolis in South America, São Paulo, has enjoyed cleaner air. The city had an average of 59 µg/m3 of particulate matter in 2001. Today, the annual average is 29 µg/m3, much closer to the WHO parameter of 20 µg/m3. A great evolution but with room for improvement.

Brazil is the second largest producer of biofuels in the world, behind only the United States. The infrastructure for the distribution and retail of renewable fuels are in place in more than 42 thousand gas stations in the country. In the 2019-20 harvest alone 34.2 billion litres of ethanol and almost 6 billion litres of biodiesel were produced.

The solution to prevent respiratory diseases exists and has been available in Brazil for 40 years. Using more biofuels is one of the most effective ways to combat air pollution. The Brazilian example could be implemented in countries where air pollution is a serious problem, such as India and China.

India and Brazil have vast experience in production of sugarcane. India has the potential to become one of the largest ethanol producers in the world due to its large-scale sugarcane production, and the idea is that, like in Brazil, Indian sugarcane industry could divert part of its production of sugarcane to produce ethanol. India has set an ethanol blending target of 10 per cent by 2022 and 20 per cent by 2030. To achieve this, India needs a sound and clear policy regime in terms of pricing, procurement and blending. The government of India has taken the first step towards this with the signing of  Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Brazil to jointly promote ethanol program. 

Therefore, when "all this is over" - one of the most read and heard expressions nowadays, imbued with the hope of returning to our daily activities, it is important to keep in mind that alcohol saves lives, not only when used to disinfect hands, but also to refuel our cars.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are those of the authors' and do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of this publishing house