Is it worth fueling with ethanol? See fuel prices now

The year started with an increase in fuel prices Which sparked a lot of controversy. With no confirmation that the federal tax credit would end, some jobs decided to raise values, but the government ended up extending the measure.

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The decision led to investigations into the possibility of forming a cartel and accusations by the government, which does not see any justification for the increase at the beginning of the year. The fact is that the prices of gasoline, ethanol and diesel became more expensive last week, and the consumer is the one who suffers from this.

How much is ethanol now?

According to the latest survey by the ANP (National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), the average price of ethanol It rose from R$3.87 to R$4.01 per liter last week. Increase by 3.62% compared to the previous week.

In São Paulo, the largest producer of biofuels, the average rose from R$3.78 to R$3.94, an increase of 4.23%. In the monthly comparison the average increase was 4.16% in the country.

What about gasoline?

The same ANP survey revealed that the average price of gasoline It increased by 3.2% in the week ending January 7, from R$4.96 to R$5.12. With the change, the fuel again exceeds the R5 level.

According to data from the Center for Advanced Study in Applied Economics at the University of the South Pacific College of Agriculture (Cepea/Esalq-USP), the increase is due to the higher cost of anhydrous ethanol in Sao Paulo plants, which reached 4.2% in the last two weeks of 2022. Uses component in the production of gasoline.

Which is more useful?

To find out which of the two fuels is more beneficial, the most common calculations are that ethanol is only worthwhile when it is equivalent to up to 70% of the price of gasoline. However, since the beginning of the evolution of floppy engines, many adopt the 75% percentage to calculate.

Given any of these percentages and the national average, gasoline is still more useful than ethanol in Brazil. However, the consumer needs to do the math based on the prices in the pump at the time of filling to discover the correct answer.