subject: No to Diesel Fuel, Yes To Ethanol [print this page] No to Diesel Fuel, Yes To Ethanol No to Diesel Fuel, Yes To Ethanol
Pump prices have been on a rampage the past few decades. And with tensions in the Middle East not coming to a halt, expect fuel supply to be scarce. Faced with such situation, people have started to find a viable alternative for foreign fuel. Environmentalist along with some politicians have been actively campaigning for the implementation of ethanol, which is a plant-based fuel produced from products such as sugar cane and corn. Unlike gasoline, ethanol possesses many advantages that steer mother earth away from further damage.
Ethanol is considered a renewable energy, since it's derived from a host of crops that can be grown domestically on a constant basis and further more it the damage to the soil is only at a minimum or non-existent at all. Furthermore, the progression of our technology would able us to maximize the use of ethanol not limited to being a fuel for vehicles. On the other hand, harvesting gasoline depletes earth's natural resources and damages our environment if not treated properly. The accumulation of waste from the conversion of fossil fuels can severely degrade our environment and takes a lot of financial support to clean up. Moreover, disasters like unwanted oil spills and tanker leaks can be averted if we would switch to ethanol due to its chemical make up it separates when it comes to contact with water. Inside the car, ethanol can be blended with gasoline to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from a car's exhaust by as much as 46%. In today's vehicles, manufacturers have made engine distribution systems that can now burn blended ethanol fuel. Cars can be converted to flex fuel vehicles to be able to purely run on ethanol fuel. As many as the benefits of using ethanol, critics argue that ethanol is not as fuel efficient like gasoline. Research have shown that a gallon of E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline would only produce three-fourths the energy compared to the same amount of gasoline. This would result in a 29% loss in fuel mileage which some people look for when buying fuel for their vehicles. Moreover, ethanol is a premium fuel that has a superior octane rating, which is the ability to control detonation inside the combustion chamber. Unfortunately, flex fuel vehicles has a lower compression ratio , this makes waste of the high octane rating ethanol has. Although it doesn't emit that much greenhouse gases, the absorption of water and dirt can cause ethanol fuel to destroy a car's engine if they are not filtered out properly.
The heated debate between both advantages and disadvantages of ethanol fuel would last for years but countries are slowly but surely starting production on their own ethanol fuel. The world's top supplier of ethanol are both Brazil and the United States with a staggering 86%. In Brazil alone, the whole country is running on ethanol since the seventies. With support from their government, they slowly veered away from foreign oil and instead patronized their own. As a result, it helped their domestic economy and boosted income for their farmers. Due to the lower fuel economy, Brazil priced their ethanol fuel 30% cheaper than gasoline and they were able to not only save on gas but also save mother earth as well. Ethanol is the futur
