" Brasil smells alcohol " . That what my friend said to me when he came from Brasil . Why ?

Question

My friend says that in Brasil they use alcohol for fueling cars .
Why it's not common in all the world ?.
What's good & what's bad about it .?

Answer 1

Bad, many countries in the world can't even feed their people let alone produce alcohol fuel. It takes more energy to produce one gallon of alcohol than you get back when you burn it. True, you could burn wood to produce the alcohol but then you again have pollution. You're putting all your eggs in one basket. If you get a drought and a massive crop failure, you would have the choice of eating or making fuel, which would you prefer. Remember, there is a limited amount of crop land so at some point, you will reach the point of diminishing returns and for each additional plot you plant, the less alcohol per unit you can produce.

If people really want to do something about the impending oil crises, encourage Congress to press the development of turbine engines for autos. For a while you would probably increase some pollution until we learn how to control it. Chrysler pioneered the auto turbine engine in the 50's and they have the technology and we now have much better materials to construct the turbines. One final point to make is the turbine will burn virtually any gas or liquid fuel. Equip your auto with a bladdered tank to hold various fuels and you can fill up at the best price or the least polluter, your choice. If you would prefer alcohol instead of gasoline, all you would have to do is set a selector switch telling your microprocessor what fuel you're using and it would automatically adjust the engine for the best results, both fuel wise and economy wise.
We could reduce the dependance of crude oil and improve our national security at the same time.


THINK ABOUT IT

Answer 2

They use alcohol fuel because it is more convenient than the steam cars they used for a long time. It is good both in the fact that they don't have to depend on foreign oil and everybody grows something that alcohol can be made from.
The more you are geared to make the cheaper it gets.

Answer 3

Good:
No dependence on foreign oil. Plants grown to produce the ethanol reduce carbon dioxide when grown, produce no carbon dioxide when burned. Fuel is cheaper. Less particulate pollution. Burns cleaner and more efficiently than gasoline.

Bad:
Nothing :)

It's not common in the world because of the enormous financial and political power of oil companies, who make billions every quarter in profit selling their dirty gasoline, and don't want that to end.

Answer 4

alcohol is odorless