Ethanol
What is Ethanol?
Ethanol is a form of biofuels that is a grain alcohol (US Department of Energy, 2007). Made from plants, corn and sugarcane ethanol no matter how it is produced still has the same chemical compound (Halperin, 2006; US Department of Energy, 2007; Macalister, 2008). Macalister also says that sugarcane has 10% of fossil fuels carbon footprint while corn is between 80 and 90 percent.
Dry Mill Production
Regular production of ethanol which takes place in a dry mill says Halperin, starts with the grinding of the source into powder (Halperin, 2006; US Department of Energy, 2007). After this Halperin and US Department of Energy say that the powder is then mixed with water and heated. After this an enzyme and yeast is added this causes the fermentation of the mixture (Halperin, 2006; US Department of Energy, 2007). Finally the mixture is distilled to remove the last water leaving pure alcohol says Halperin and US Department of Energy. The US Department of Energy also specifies that there is a chemical added to render the alcohol undrinkable.
Wet Mill Production
Wet mill production is a shorter process but there are more leftovers. First the source is soaked to separate the protein and starch (US Department of Energy, 2007). The starch is then ground and processed to produce sugars. Finally the sugars are fermented to produce the alcohol, ethanol (US Department of Energy, 2007). The extra leftovers are the protein.
Ethanol's Advantages
Ethanol has many advantages and disadvantages. Starting on the advantages side ethanol is classified as a renewable energy says Halperin and US Department of Energy. Halperin and US Department of Energy also say that ethanol is also produced closer than fossil fuels making the transportation and pollution less. Once the ethanol is successfully transported and being used it burns cleaning than fossil fuels reducing the pollution (Halperin, 2006; US Department of Energy, 2007; Wikipedia, 2008). Wikipedia says that ethanol produces 21% less CO2 than fossil fuels. The US Department of Energy also states that ethanol is a higher octane fuel letting engines run at higher compression. This means more power from the engine. Ethanol is also the producer of jobs. In rural areas ethanol created over 160,000 jobs.
What is wrong with ethanol?
While ethanol has its advantages it also has its disadvantages. Halperin says that ethanol cannot travel in pipelines because it picks up water in the pipelines. This means that the ethanol must be transported by trucks which adds to the production cost. Halperin also says that since ethanol does not contain as much energy as fossil fuels the end users must stop more often to achieve the same distances. During the production process Wikipedia says that during the fermentation stage ethanol releases a gas know as VOC or volatile organic compounds. This gas must be eliminated by installing thermal or catalytic oxidizers on the plants to burn the gases (Wikipedia, 2008).
Mixtures
Ethanol normally comes in two different mixtures, either E85 or E10 (US Department of Energy, 2007). E85 is a mixture made from 85% ethanol and 15% fossil fuels. This mixture can be used by flex fuel vehicles (US Department of Energy, 2007). The US Department of Energy also states that the mixture E10 which can be used in most vehicles today, is a mixture of 10% ethanol and 90% fossil fuels. This mixture is the more polluting of the two.
