subject: Ethanol And Bio Alcohol Becoming Popular Alternative Fuels [print this page] Ethanol and bio alcohol are used in many types of alternative fuel vehicles as they cut down on gas emissions that are produced by conventional automobiles. Bio alcohol differs from some forms methanol and ethanol as it is acquired via biological sources and not from petroleum. But there is no chemical difference between biologically produced alcohols and those that are acquired from other sources. The resource is used like biofuel with petroleum. Bio alcohol is not commonly used in most industrial procedures as it is more expensive than alcohol which is derived from fossil fuels. This is one of the main reasons some economists say that bio alcohol is not a feasible substance as petroleum substitute.
On the other hand ethanol is an alcohol-based type of fuel that is produced by fermenting and distilling certain crops such as corn, potato, sorghum, and sugar cane that have broken down into a variety of simple sugars.
Ethanol is used as a fuel mainly in Brazil and America. In fact, combined, these two nations manufactured almost 90 per cent of the ethanol fuel production in the world in 2008. Ethanol is a type of renewable energy because of the way it is produced.
Ethanol is seen as an alternative to rising oil and gas prices across the world. In the U.S., law states that gasoline refiners have to incorporate 7.5 billion gallons of ethanol as an additive into their gas to create a cleaner-burning fuel by 2012. In fact, just about any gas-powered car can operate on a gasoline blend that is made up of 10 per cent ethanol.
While ethanol is being used to power some vehicles in the U.S., it is still primarily being used as a blend to help lower oil consumption and pollutants. However, many researchers predict it will soon become a popular alternative fuel known as E85. This is because a blend of 85 per cent ethanol along with 15 per cent gas is used to fuel many types of flex-fuel vehicles.
While ethanol emits fewer greenhouse gases than conventional fuel, it takes a lot of diesel and other types of petroleum-generated machines to plant, maintain, and harvest the corn and other ethanol crops. So, the overall benefits of ethanol are somewhat reduced by the pollutants that are releases during its harvesting process. However, in the future, ethanol production is predicted to become less energy intensive. But another problem some researchers see with ethanol is the large amount of arable land that is required for the crops to produce it.
The popularity of ethanol will probably rise and fall with the price of oil and gas. If oil and gas costs remain sky high, then there will be a push for people to develop ethanol as an effective type of alternative fuel. If gas and oil prices decrease dramatically, then it looks like ethanol will remain as an additive to gasoline for a little while longer, at least in the U.S. In other parts of the world, such as Brazil, ethanol is already a popular and much used alternative fuel.
