What make ethanol a great fuel?

Question

My question: What does the government know about ethanol that makes it such an attractive fuel? Because the informed public seem to think it has a net negative environmental impact.

I ask because I have heard so many negative things about ethanol.

-1) the fuel economy of a vehicle is reduced when using ethanol, and that a difference of $0.70 per gallon is needed to make it as cost effective as regular gasoline.

-2) the amount of energy to create a gallon of ethanol is greater than the energy created by the ethanol, so in effect making the total life cycle of ethanol more pollutant producing than regular gasoline.

-3) the cost of ethanol beyond the price at the pump, in terms of higher costs to farmers for corn to feed chickens and cows, which is passed on to consumers in the grocery stores.

Answer 1

government people are telling the corn growers what they want to hear

Answer 2

Apart from pushing up the food prices

it also is responsible for vast deforestation

and adds more to global warming that anything else

including all the exhaust pipes in the world.

The great thing is that it makes  some very rich people

much richer and more powerful

second article down on this page

http://byderule.multiply.com/journal/ite...

Answer 3

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.

Most vehicles are already equipped to run on Alternative Energy. In fact you’re probably even driving one right now and didn’t even know it. Go to www agua-luna com for a list of this vehicles

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.

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..

www agua-luna com

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  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

Alterative Energy / Sustainable Consultant, Living 100% on Alternative & Author of How One Simple Yet Incredibly Powerful Resource Is Transforming The Lives of Regular People From All Over The World... Instantly Elevating Their Income & Lowering Their Debt, While Saving The Environment by Using FREE ENERGY... All With Just One Click of A Mouse...For more info Visit:  

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Answer 4

i don't know about you,but my car runs on oil made from corn.That way,I'll help the earth!!You should buy one,they cost about 1,500 dollors each,not a bad price!

Answer 5

Its made from corn which is very plentiful in USA and its emissions cause less damage to the earth.

Answer 6

I don't think ethanol is a great solution.  But there are some benefits to it.

1. The main reason the government supported ethanol is that it reduced some dependency on foreign oil.

2. Before the price of corn went up they could make ethanol for .70 cents per gallon.  With the price of corn doubling I would guess it can be made for about $1.20 a gallon.

I make my own beer and have researched ethanol some and would surmise that it's not hard to make it on a large scale I would guess you grind corn and steep it at 153 degrees for 1 or 2 hours then the cool it down under 80 degrees.  Add yeast and ferment for week maybe 2 weeks then they use steam to strip out the ethanol quick and cheap.

3.  With corn going up "which sucks for other products"  It allowed the government to quit subsidizing the farmers as much since they are making more money off corn.

4.  Mixing 10% ethanol with gas shows little loss of efficiency then plain gasoline and allows them to get the last 5% of the water out of the ethanol cheaply since water and gas doesn't mix and the last of the water will settle on the bottom of the barrel where it gets drained out.

5.  E85 is not as about 20% less efficenct then gasoline so make sure the price is at least 20% cheaper.

Answer 7

The only real question is whether it can be produced for less energy than it produces. I've seen conflicting reports on this, and I'd really like to hear an objective, non-biased analysis.

IF it produces more energy than it consumes (that's an extremely important "If"), the benefits are many:

1. Burns cleaner than gasoline. The environmental benefits have been widely reported, but another benefit is there are fewer contaminants gumming up the engine of your car. Therefore, less auto maintenance and longer car-life.

2. Burns cooler than gasoline. Again, this reduces wear on your engine and extends car-life.

3. Can be produced anywhere in the world that can grow crops. Instead of importing our energy from a handful of twisted Kings, Mullahs, Dictators, and demogogues, we can pick and choose who supplies our energy. We can reward countries that embrace human rights and freedom, instead of enriching the very regimes that oppress such things.

4. It's renewable.

5. It provides a huge new market to farmers. For centuries farmers have struggled against falling crop prices, as technology has allowed the market to be glutted with produce. Using ethanol and bio-diesel creates a market big enough to accomodate every last stalk and leaf that farmers can produce, and then some.

Answer 8

First- It takes more energy to make ethanol than it contains.  1 gallon of ethanol contains 76,000 BTU.  To make that 1 gallon of ethanol take 98,000 BTU.

http://www.slate.com/id/2122961/

Second- Gasoline with average state and federal taxes is taxed  $.40(cents a gallon)  Ethanol on the other hand has no taxes charged and then is subsides by the government for $ 1.38 a gallon a nearly $2.00 a gallon difference.

I could go on forever.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/27/magazine...

When a Second Law analysis of corn-ethanol is performed, we find that the minimum cumulative exergy consumption in restoring all the pollution and depletion of industrial corn-ethanol production is more than 7 times higher than the maximum amount of shaft work produced by a car engine burning ethanol. And this is excluding restoration work for decontaminating aquifers, rivers and the Gulf of Mexico, all tainted by agricultural runoff. Moreover, when you take into account all of the fossil fuel inputs, one hectare of corn-for-ethanol generates 7475 kg of CO2, or 2200 kg more CO2than would be generated by burning an energy equivalent amount of gasoline. In other words ethanol generation produces 42% more atmospheric CO2 than gasoline. [43]

THIS IS A MUST READ ARTICLE

http://www.oilcrash.com/articles/pf_bio....

Answer 9

The corn lobby.

Answer 10

Just about nothing.

Government officials like to tout ethanol because it gives many of them a chance to bring money to their areas by giving their constituent farmers a place to sell excess corn for higher prices.  This, in turn, helps them get re-elected on a look-how-many-jobs-I-created platform.

Big business likes it too, because a lot of money goes into building ethanol plants.  All big-time politicians need campaign donations to stay in office, so the companies looking to produce ethanol contribute handsomely.

In fact, the only people who think ethanol is good deal are the ones who will make money off of it.  It has been found to be bad for the environment, bad for our vehicles, and bad for society at large.

Answer 11

it also brings more expensive fuel prices because the fuel has to be mized already with 15% ethanol so instead of going straight to the pump it goes to another refineries to be mixed with gas and then shipped again

It also increase oil prices because it costs more for truckers to ship goods so now the goods are more expensive.

Answer 12

It just shows that the Gov. does not trust the Arabs to continue supply fuel for us. Has very little affect on the amount of CO2 produced.

Answer 13

You have made good points - global food prices are rising and will continue to do so as more land is given over to fuel crops rather than food crops. Wheat is at a record high price.

Regarding your second point a study in Scotland indicated that more energy went in to growing, harvesting and production of bio-ethanol ( I think it was oil seed rape) was greater than the yield. It is only therefore energy efficient with manual (rather than mechanical) agricultural techniques and faster growing conditions than in the UK, leading to exploitation of the world's poorest.  

No doubt the world bank will support this type of agriculture to encourage landowners to grow fuel crops (like they used to do with tobacco) rather than food.

Where governments see the benefit is that combusting ethanol is seen as "carbon neutral", i.e the CO2 emissions from combustion were absorbed from the atmosphere during the growing phase. Smoke, mirrors and a few half truths are involved along the way. Just like with emission free hydrogen fuel cells - how was the hydrogen made in the first place?