Ethanol - History, Advantages Of Ethanol As An Alternative Fuel, Disadvantages Of Ethanol As An Alternative Fuel
billion gasoline alcohol manufactured
Ethanol is an alcohol fuel that is manufactured by fermenting and distilling crops with a high starch or sugar content, such as grains, sugarcane, or corn. In the energy sector, ethanol can be used for space and water heating, to generate electricity, and as an alternative vehicle fuel, which has been its major use to date. Worldwide, ethanol is the mostly widely used alternative liquid fuel. Ethanol is also known as ethyl alcohol, drinking alcohol, and grain alcohol.
The United States produced 780 million gallons (3 billion l) of ethanol in 1986 and plans to increase this to 1.8 billion gal (7 billion l). This ethanol is mostly blended with conventional gasoline to make gasohol (90% gasoline and 10% ethanol). Gasohol accounts for 8% of national gasoline sales and 25-35% of sales in the farming states of Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, and Nebraska, where much ethanol is manufactured from maize. Brazil, the world's largest producer and consumer of ethanol, uses a gasohol blend of 85-95% gasoline and 15-5% ethanol. Brazil produces 3 billion gal (12 billion l) of ethanol yearly, almost all of which is manufactured from sugar cane.
Additional Topics
Ethanol has many positive features as an alternative liquid fuel. First, ethanol is a renewable, relatively safe fuel that can be used with few engine modifications. Second, its energy density is higher than some other alternative fuels, such as methanol, which means less volume is required to go the same distance. The third benefit of ethanol is that it can improve agricultural economies by provi…
However, there are several problems with the use of ethanol as an alternative fuel. First, it is costly to produce and use. At 1987 prices, it cost 2.5-3.75 times as much as gasoline. The United States Department of the Environment (DOE) is funding a research program aimed at decreasing the cost to $0.60/gallon by the year 2000; in the last decade or so, the cost has dropped from $3.60/gallon to $…
Current research is investigating ways to reduce the cost of ethanol production. DOE's research partners are developing a process, called enzymatic hydrolysis, that uses special strains of yeast to manufacture ethanol in an inexpensive, high-yield procedure. This project is also developing the use of waste products as a fuel for ethanol production. Other researchers are investigating the pr…
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User Comments
almost 3 years ago
Ethanol has advantages, but it also has disadvantages...
- 20%- 30% drop in miles per gallon because of it's lower energy content
- doesn't contain toxins
- some Horsepower could be lost
- Farmers are wearing out the soil so it's not fully organic
- Government gives a subside ( i don't know how to spell that)
5 months ago
Um yeah... Where are the pros and cons?
Stupid page.