What advantages does ethanol as a fuel over oil and natural gas?

Question

What advantages does ethanol as a fuel over oil and natural gas?

Answer 1

Hmm. Bio-fuels are a problem; huge areas of land are required to produce useful quantities. Bye-bye rainforest.

Traditional fossil fuels are running out, of course, so they are no alternative.

The over-dependence of certain countries (you know who you are) on motor vehicles is the main problem.

Answer 2

tom

Ethanol doesn’t go bad like petroleum it’s just Alcohol. It’s what preserves your wine and gets better as the years go by.

Ethanol is a much cleaner fuel than petrol (gasoline):



It is a renewable fuel made from plants

It is not a fossil-fuel: manufacturing it and burning it does not increase the greenhouse effect

It provides high octane at low cost as an alternative to harmful fuel additives

Ethanol blends can be used in all petrol engines without modifications

Ethanol is biodegradable without harmful effects on the environment

It significantly reduces harmful exhaust emissions

Ethanol's high oxygen content reduces carbon monoxide levels more than any other oxygenate: by 25-30%, according to the US EPA

Ethanol blends dramatically reduce emissions of hydrocarbons, a major contributor to the depletion of the ozone layer

High-level ethanol blends reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 20%

Ethanol can reduce net carbon dioxide emissions by up to 100% on a full life-cycle basis

High-level ethanol blends can reduce emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) by 30% or more (VOCs are major sources of ground-level ozone formation)

As an octane enhancer, ethanol can cut emissions of cancer-causing benzene and butadiene by more than 50%



Sulphur dioxide and Particulate Matter (PM) emissions are significantly decreased with ethanol.

Lastly and my favorite.. It can be made at home.

It will cost about $1.10 to $1.20/gal to make the alcohol from various feed-stocks like corn, barley, potatoes, or Jerusalem artichokes. You will also have by-products which you can sell or use as animal feed, reducing the total cost down to about $.95/gal.

I currently run Bio Fuel (straight vegetable) in a 1999 Dodge 3500 truck. But all Cummins engines were modified from the factory to run on BioD since around 1992 without any modification.

Biofuel is recognized by both the US Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Energy as an alternative fuel, and qualifies for mandated programs under the Clean Air Act Amendments and the Environmental Protection Act of 1992 (EPAct).

USDA Clears Air with Biofuel: Buses and other diesel-burning vehicles run cleaner if they mix biofuel with regular diesel fuel, said the US Department of Agriculture at a biofuel fuel seminar at a USDA research center.

Conversely most major automotive manufacturers (Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors, etc) recommend the use of bio fuels, and nearly every car manufacturer in the world approves ethanol blends in their warranty coverage.

In fact your probably even driving an ethanol car and didn't even know it.

The trick is finding fuel.

I've been producing biofuel for about 3 years now, it's not extremely difficult. Basically you need general household ingredients, a processor (or still for ethanol) and some used oil. Blend it, let separate, screen and use. I complied a guide a while back to help walk you threw the process step by step, just email me or check out..

http://www.agua-luna.com/guides.html

Hope this helped, feel free to contact me personally if you have any questions if you’d like assistance in making your first self sufficient steps, I’m willing to walk you step by step threw the process. I’ve written several how-to DIY guides available at http://www.agua-luna.com on the subject. I also offer online and on-site workshops, seminars and internships to help others help the environment.

Dan Martin

Retired Boeing Engineer now living 100% Off-the-Grid with my family, using Alternative Energy & loving every minute.

for more info visit agua-luna com or email me at [e-mail]

Answer 3

Only disadvantages.

You can poke a hole in the ground and get a tanker full of oil.

The effort to grow an acre of corn or soybeans, convert it to ethanol, and store and transport the fuel is too high.

Anything which only works with substantial subsidies is  RIDICULOUS.

Diesel and bio-diesel make some sense because 1) you can mix 80% petro diesel with 20% bio diesel and 2) used oil from fast food is already sitting in barrels waiting to be discarded.

Answer 4

Ethanol gives your car more power and burns cleaner. I just changed my oil after 9000 miles its brown not black after using E85. And with ethanol NO WAR REQUIRED

Answer 5

None-once you look at the footprint. The disadvantages are far reaching and fully toxic to life as we know it. This whole ethanol spectre is a ruse to extinguish human life according to a timeline of ill-repute.

Answer 6

It's renewable. Doesn't sort out the pollution issue though. It burns to form carbon dioxide and water.

Answer 7

Main advantage is it is a renewable resource as its produced from plant materials, and plants can be grown and harvested annually.

Disadvantages? It can only be used when diluted to 10% by mixing with other fuels because its so potent, (on its own its toxic) and perhaps most importantly at present, using crops to produce it removes land from producing food.

http://www.envocare.co.uk/ethanol.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fue...

In terms of biofuels there are some promising test plants in America producing fuels from farm waste or even from discarded plastics, but these are some years from full commercial production.

Answer 8

None in the US since we use corn to get it which requires 1 gallon of gas to get 1.3 gallons of ethanol which is about 27% less efficient than gasoline.

Answer 9

none here in USA but in Brazil it works good on flex cars,iy would help Africa greatly if they could grow sugar cane or sugar grass.Its just political feel good thing in USA does more harm than good ,corn is wrong product

Answer 10

It can theoretically be (though is not at present), carbon neutral.  It is also useful as an anti-konocking agent.  Presently, it comes withg hefty tax subsidies, making it cheaper in some places.

Answer 11

you cant get pissed on oil or natural gas

Answer 12

The only advantage, maybe, is that it is semi-renewable.  However, how we currently extract ethanol is not worth it.  On top of that, we are takeing away from a food supply that we could be using to trade to other countries for other needs.  Furthermore, there are better natural fuels out there that we should be exploring.  Ethanol burns much faster then gasoline and is more expensive to produce.  It is a horrible solution