There has been so much hype over ethanol. In the last year alone, there has been a 60% increase in the number of gas pumps offering this gasoline alternative. So, is ethanol the answer to ballooning fuel costs? Find a list of Ethanol Pros and Cons below and decide for yourself. Pros A SIZABLE PRICE DIFFERENCE - It is true, Ethanol mix is indeed much cheaper than pure gasoline. You can save around 20 - 30 cents when you use ethanol instead of gasoline. That can add up, especially if you are driving a 17 gallon SUV that eats fuel up like crazy. A DECREASE IN CARBON MONOXIDE CAR EMISSIONS - Another good thing about using ethanol instead of pure gasoline is the fact that ethanol decreases carbon monoxide emissions. When you use ethanol mix instead of gasoline you are decreasing your car's greenhouse gas emissions by 30%. LOCALLY MANUFACTURED - The biggest selling point of ethanol is the fact that it can be grown and manufactured within the country. Now, there is no need to buy staggering amounts of fuel from foreign countries just to keep your car running. Cons Mind you, ethanol isn't as pristine as their manufacturers would have you believe. Sure, it is much easier on the environment compared to gasoline. But, it still contributes to greenhouse gases in one way or another. For now, Ethanol seems like a great alternative to rising Fuel Costs, but dependence on it should not be developed. Some issues regarding the use of Ethanol to counter the rising Fuel Costs are found below. WORLD HUNGER FOR WORLD FUEL - Most of today's ethanol is produced from farm raised corn. It means that more and more farmers are now growing corn for fuel instead for food. That presents a very real threat to world nutrition. In fact, the nightmare has already begun. Hispanic countries have rallied on their streets demanding a decrease in the price of the food staple. Is the world really willing to forgo feeding its people just so its cars can run? Hopefully, not! INCONVENIENTLY TRANSPORTED - Unlike gasoline, Ethanol cannot be transported through pipe line. Its chemical composition makes iy Hydrophilic (attracts water to itself). And ethanol mixed with water is virtually useless. That is why ethanol has to be transported by trucks. That means more fuel is used even before ethanol gets to a pumping station. CARS DON'T RUN ON ETHANOL ALONE - Ethanol alone doesn't have enough energy to be an efficient fuel source. It needs to be mixed with Gasoline. That means that Ethanol doesn't necessarily rid the world of her dependence on gasoline. It just decreases it. With the rising price of gasoline, soon even the angelic Ethanol will be too expensive. Other Answers to the Fuel Cost Crisis The hype over Ethanol has effectively overshadowed other more worthy fuel saving wonders. Hybrid cars for instance, they are a great answer to the rising cost of fuel. You can go for miles on end without having to fill up every now and again. Then there are Electric Cars and Zero-Emission Vehicles that can run without hurting the environment. What about those solutions? Maybe it's time fuel companies focus on those solutions more and put ethanol to bed - before it gets out of hand. The author of this article is Benedict Yossarian an Internet Marketing Consultant. If you are learning to drive and practicing for your theory testBenedict recommends TheoryTest.co.uk Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Benedict_Yossarian
Reducing Fuel Costs - Is Ethanol the Right Solution?
Making Ethanol Gas - What Does it Contain?
Ethanol gas is made through the same method of distillation and fermentation as beer is made today. Agricultural crops are used because they contain compounds of six-carbon sugars. When ethanol is made from grain, the starch is combined with water forming a mash. To separate the sugars that are fermented enzymes are added to the mash once it is heated. Then next step to making ethanol gas involves adding yeast for conversion of the sugars to the ethanol and carbon dioxide, known as fermentation. This process actually produces beer, which contains 10% ethanol and 90% water. The beer needs to be boiled. Boiling allows for separation of the water, resulting in ethanol that is fuel-grade and almost 95% pure. When ethanol is made from grains, only the starch is used. There are many different products which can be used in making ethanol gas which include feed for livestock, wood waste, cheese whey, potato waste, food and beverage waste, and more. California is planning to produce rice straw specifically for ethanol use. Louisiana will produce their ethanol from bagasse and rice hulls while New York and Alabama will use municipal solid waste. The amazing thing about making ethanol gas is that it is a renewable fuel. Unlike other alternative fuel options that still require a little bit of gasoline to run, this fuel can be made from things that can be reproduced. Ethanol fuel is one of the best solutions for running a vehicle clean without emissions and all of the ingredients are natural. The ingredients for ethanol can vary because the importance is to extract the sugars and ferment them like beer. The Author Drives His Own Electric Car And Reveals A Few Secrets For FREE On How To Convert A Car To Electricity! Click Here For More Information. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jonathon_Winburg
Dealing With Ethanol Fuel Boat Problems
As the fuel crisis forces more boaters to switch to
ethanol fuel mixtures, there have been reported
problems that are linked to the gasoline blended with
ethanol. However, with a little work on your boat you
can avoid these ethanol fuel related boat problems.
Until now many of the new initiatives to help improve
the quality of the air have had no negative impact on
boaters. Recently the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency started requiring the use of an oxygenated
gasoline in order to help improve the quality of the
air. Most started use Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether or
MTBE, however this had its own environmental problems
so now ethanol is replacing it as the standard in
boating fuel. However, the recent use of ethanol fuel
in boats has led to many problems including fiberglass
fuel tank failure, blockage of the fuel system, damage
to the engine and an increase in fuel contamination.
So how does the problem happen? Basically ethanol fuel
is a mix of gasoline and ethyl alcohol. This ethyl
alcohol is a solvent that adsorbs water. This means
that if you have an older fiberglass fuel tank the
ethanol fuel can damage your sealants. After the
sealants are dissolved they are then ingested by the
engine, which can cause damage, not to mention that
when you have fuel leaking from the tank into the
bilge you have the added fire hazard.
Fuel tanks that aren't made of fiberglass still
have problems with ethanol fuel, but they aren’t
as complex. The ethanol fuel can release fine metallic
particles into the fuel system, which pass through the
filter. This causes the metal to clog fuel injector
nozzles or carburetors.
No matter what fuel tank you have if the ethanol fuel
mixes with any water that has contaminated the fuel
tank you will have expensive repairs to do. When the
ethyl alcohol and water combine they cause a
noncombustible layer to develop which will stop all
engines completely.
So how can you protect your boat and avoid these
complicated problems? While there still is no plan
available for ethanol fuel use you can do some things
to help protect your boat until a solution is found.
First if you boat was built before 1984 then you
should replace the fiberglass fuel tank with a modern
version before adding ethanol fuel. This can help
reduce some of the more difficult problems related
with older fuel tanks and their components.
With ethanol fuel it is important to completely empty
your fuel tanks in the winter and then clean them
thoroughly before you use them in the following
season. When it comes to fuel filters you should have
a good one that can separate the water and carry
several spare cartridges when you are out on the
water.
When it comes to the fuel itself you should avoid
mixing fuel types. Before adding ethanol be sure you
use up all your old gasoline and clean the tank
completely. Then when you add ethanol, be sure to
limit the fuel you have onboard to only what you need
for two weeks. This is because ethanol fuel has a very
short shelf life when compared to other fuels.
Securing Energy Independence for the Usa
Crude oil prices have reached $140. The US dollar has lost hugely against the Euro and the Canadian dollar. Petroleum prices will continue their unstoppable surge, which is driven by steadily increasing demand, Wall Street speculation, and OPEC refusal to meet demand.
Present and previous US administrations have made no serious efforts to develop effective countermeasures. The attempt of the Bush administration to gain control of oil in the Middle East has failed. Highly subsidized US ethanol production from corn has not made a dent in petroleum demand, but has led to a huge rise in worldwide grain and food prices.
Instead, the administration and many politicians are demanding energy conservation and a failing "Cap and Trade" permit system. Drilling for oil in Alaska and offshore is another request by oil lobbyists.
Countermeasures have not contributed anything to produce supplies. However, ill conceived solutions have made many politically connected people very rich. Greed has trumped patriotism!
For more than twenty years, politicians, industry, media, and citizens are discussing the issue of oil imports and their pernicious effects on the US economy. In May 2008 the US imported 14.2 million barrels of crude oil per day. At $140 per barrel the USA gives away roughly $2 billion every single day to foreign nations! In addition, a substantial amount of refined fuels is imported. This means that the US is approaching a shameful threshold, when it pays $1 trillion dollars for foreign fuel imports annually. These huge funds could do wonders for the US economy, if they would be spent on energy supplies produced by our own industry, inside the US.
The US has a severe energy problem. It possesses huge reserves of coal and oil shale. However, coal, oil, and natural gas emit large amounts of greenhouse gases when burned. Fossil fuel combustion is the cause of global warming. We cannot dare to continue the continuing the use of fossil fuels for more than a couple of decades. Otherwise, too much carbon dioxide will accumulate in the Earth's atmosphere and will lead to an acceleration of global warming. Global warming is responsible for climate change and for mounting damages to nature, worldwide assets, and people. Melting of glaciers and ice in the Polar Regions is already a growing and unstoppable threat.
Electricity and liquid transportation fuels are the lifeblood of our economies. Economic growth is not possible without plentiful, affordable, and secure energy supplies. Economies will fail when supplies of petroleum become scarce, when global warming keeps inflicting damages, and when petroleum prices keep continuing their skyward move.
Are there any solutions that can be developed and implemented before petroleum is depleted and before global warming exceeds the 3 to 4 degree Celsius global warming threshold?
Fortunately, there are many alternate approaches for generating electricity that will not emit greenhouse gases.
Surprisingly, there seems to be only one single concept, which has the potential to produce sufficient substitute supplies of liquid transportation fuels. This concept is the conversion of biomass into liquid petroleum substitutes. Unfortunately, early in 2008, this concept has been discredited by the ill conceived production of fuel ethanol from food crops.
Conversion of biomass into fuel is the one and only option, which we may be able to develop to maturity in the next thirty years. We must learn how to use sunlight, water, carbon dioxide, and fertilizer and convert them into biomass. Categorically, food crops are not suited for conversion into fuels. Food crops have been selected, domesticated, and bred to provide storable, tasty, and nutritious foods. Energy crops must be selected based on entirely different properties. Energy crops must have very high energy content, must provide very high crop yields, and must grow very fast. This means that we must find and further breed plants with very high energy yields; i.e. plants with the highest production of energy per acre per year.
Nature has been converting sunlight into biomass for millions of years. In fact, the Earth's generous fossil fuel reserves are nothing else but biomass converted into coal, petroleum, and natural gas. All we have to do is to imitate nature's example. Obviously, there must be a major obstacle. We do not know exactly which processes nature used to make petroleum. And we have a major handicap to overcome. We are allowed only hours for conversion. Nature may have taken her time and may have used thousands or even millions of years for the same conversion.
We have learned the hard way that the conversion of food crops into liquid fuels creates market forces, which cannot be controlled unless the world installs huge regulatory bureaucracies. Instead, we must use a concept for producing petroleum substitutes that cannot be manipulated.
Most sunshine reaches Earth near the equator in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Numerous arid regions, without sufficient precipitation, are located in these lands, too. By placing large, industrial scale biomass plantations into these areas, we prevent the abuse of fertile lands for food production. We can also prevent the further deforestation of rain forests and the abuse of other, primeval lands.
Water is the commodity that is missing in these areas. Lack of water is the reason these lands are arid. Therefore, we must use seawater and use heat from the sun to produce desalinated freshwater.
Finally, the US must establish an autonomous agency with the mission, program, and budget to make the US independent of foreign oil imports! The energy industry does not have the means and incentives.
