Alkol touts ethanol engine conversion in under an hour

Wilmington, Del.-based Alkol isn’t new to developing its car conversion system that transforms an engine’s source of power to ethanol in less than one hour.

The company’s international branch has been doing it in Brazil, where the technology originates, for the past 15 years.

But when it comes to bringing the concept to the United States, the company is starting from scratch.

Alkol CEO Al Costa told the Cleantech Group his company is seeking $2 million to implement its technology in the U.S., where it has already been gaining some traction. Alkol's U.S. office includes Costa and two partners, while the Brazilian office has 45 employees.

Alkol said it has closed a deal with a major, undisclosed U.S. gas company to starting bringing its technology to pumps across America. The company intends to then expand on a worldwide level, with China and Israel already expressing interest, Costa said.

"Our long-term goal is to become the leader in car conversion systems," Costa said.

With its recent deal in place, Alkol is now focused on flying mechanics to Brazil to train them on how to implement the company’s conversion system.

The company says it has sold more than 2,000 of its products in the past two years. Its "1-Hour Flex" alcohol converter allows any car to run on any amount of alcohol or gasoline, and the conversion process is fast and easy, Costa said.

The company’s three-part technology includes a conversion unit—a computerized electronic device that modulates the injection timing of a car engine’s fuel injectors to make them compatible with the requirements of alcohol.

The second component is an ignition remapper, which advances the ignition, allowing for a higher compression rate and better fuel economy than often associated with ethanol.

The third piece is a cold start system. Alcohol-based engines require higher temperatures than gas to properly start, so the company’s cold start system allows a vehicle to start even where it snows. Costa said the whole system, including installation, runs about $900, and it’s not delivered in a box like some of the company’s competitors.

“We do not really like to sell the components. That’s not our main business,” he said. “Our business model is for you to drive in [to a pump station] and have a coffee, and by the time you’re done, we’ll have completed all the necessary modifications to your car.”

Costa said Alkol’s closest competitor is Chicago, Ill.-based Flex Fuel U.S., which makes a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified flex-fuel conversion system.

Flexible-fuel vehicles are designed to run on gasoline or a blend of up to 85 percent ethanol (see U.S. EPA funds study on alternative fuel vehicle emissions, Europe's Ricardo claims breakthrough in ethanol engine efficiency and Bosch gets DOE funding for flex-fuel vehicle).

Alkol is focused on consumers, government vehicles, rental car companies and large corporations like Wal-Mart interested in lowering carbon dioxide emissions by converting vehicle fleets to ethanol, Costa said.

There are nearly 2,200 U.S. gas stations that offer E85 ethanol fuel, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline. That number is expected to double in a little over a year as service stations take advantage of government grants for up to $30,000 to install E85 fuel pumps, Costa said. In contrast, he said E85 pumps and V100 pumps, which offer 100 percent ethanol, are commonplace in Brazil.

Alkol is one of 25 potential new investment opportunities the Cleantech Group added to its innovation pipeline this week, available exclusively to members of the Cleantech Network. Members can click here to search the database.

Interested in emerging cleantech innovations? Here are two new U.S. companies added to the Cleantech Group's database this week also looking for funding:

• Wellfleet, Mass.-based Plankton Power is raising $20 million in project finance funding to build a pilot plant, called the Cape Cod Algae Biorefinery, which is expected to produce renewable biofuels from algae (see Plankton Power plans for biofuels facility on Cape Cod). The biofuels startup has submitted a $20 million proposal to the U.S. Department of Energy that would leverage $4 million in private funding to construct the proposed facility.
• Boxborough, Mass.-based Vibronic Energy Technologies is seeking $2 million in a first round of funding. The company has developed a process called Inverse Capillary Discharge (ICD) that it says provides an inexhaustible source of hydrogen gas, leading to new possibilities with fuel cells. Vibronic Energy plans to use the proceeds to construct a laboratory facility and to further develop and test an ICD reactor power generator prototype.

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