can ethanol replace gasoline permanently?

Question

its one of the major solution for global warming.here in our place, the climate is not that normal anymore.its summer but its been raining occasionally.

Answer 1

SURE!!!

I am Brazilian so I explain our status.

First of all in late 70s we had out first ethanol powered cars in Brazil; in that time cars ran on 100% ethanol and had carburators... (obviously we also had gasoline powered cars, as we do today).

In late 2003 the first flex-fuel car was produced in Brazil, since new technologies were developed it became possible for the engine to identify the gasoline-ethanol mix you have in your car and dinamically define parameters for the engine to run.
(mix can vary from 0-100% for gasoline or ethanol)

Even gasoline powered cars in Brazil and adapted and run on 24% ethanol and 76% gasoline to reduce emmissions. This is enforced by law. You'll never find 100% gasoline on a gas station, were it says "gasoline" your using the 24% ethanol mix.

IT IS A LOT CHEAPER AND POLUTES MUCH LESS.

I have a flex-fuel car, so I can use gasoline or ethanol:
Running on ethanol - 7 km/liter - price R$ 1,29/liter
Running on gasoline - 9 km/liter - price R$ 2,45/liter

So in my case is 120% more expensive to run on gasoline

Since US does not have enought technology to reach Brazilian's cost efficency to produce ethanol and overtax imported ethanol, I guess this rational would not work today, but I bet it will work in a 10 years timeframe after US learn how to do it.

There is also the diesel issue for trucks, but we already have the bio-diesel technology in place and the mass producion is taking-off.

Answer 2

Why the USA might not embrace E85

Despite Brazil's experience, don't expect the USA to embrace E85 fuel, because:

• You can't find it. Where the ethanol is, people aren't. Only 500 fuel stations sell E85 and most of those are in the lightly populated Midwest, which grows the corn to make the alcohol. The heavily populated coasts have only a few E85 outlets, and most are reserved for private fleets.

• You'd probably have to buy a new car or truck to use it. The FFVs already out there are roughly 2% of all vehicles on the road, leaving Americans to replace the other 98% with new vehicles that have the corrosion-resistant fuel systems, special fuel injectors, sensors and computer controls, and hardened and coated engine parts necessary to survive alcohol's corrosive onslaught and compensate for lower energy content.

• You'd have to fill up more often. You'd be at the pump every four or five days instead of once a week. Ethanol contains about two-thirds as much energy as gasoline. The higher the concentration of alcohol in fuel, the more fuel you have to use to go the same distance. A vehicle would burn 1.4 times as much E85 as straight gasoline, the U.S. Department of Energy says.

A survey by luxury automaker Lexus found that the biggest reason people said they'd consider a fuel-saving Lexus hybrid vehicle was that its improved mileage meant fewer stops at the filling station. Environmental benefits and reducing petroleum use were secondary. E85 vehicles could have a big marketing challenge against that kind of attitude.

• Your vehicle wouldn't make the most of the fuel. FFVs are able to burn E85 but are tuned for best performance on gasoline because it's abundant and E85 isn't. An engine would have to be designed from scratch to fully exploit E85's higher octane and overcome its inferior energy content.

Answer 3

Ethanol provides less energy per unit volume than gasoline (that is, you get fewer miles per gallon from it). It also burns cleaner, but there are a lot of better things we can do. 1) Buy a bike. Stop driving to school or to get a quart of milk. 2) Stop using 6,000 lb. of steel to carry a 60 lb. child to school or soccer. 3) Unplug everything that has a digital clock in it - TVs, VCRs, DVDs, stoves, microwave ovens, toaster ovens, coffee makers, alarm clocks, radios, computers and stereo systems. All of these "standby mode" devices eat fossil fuels 24/7/365, even when you're not using them.

Answer 4

Ethanol can replace gasoline permanently but it may not be economical. It is my understanding that any car can run on ethanol with a carburetor adjustment.

Answer 5

Ethanol is just an additive to gasoline in a small amount.(less than 10%) It won't replace gasoline in the foreseeable future with the type of engines we now run.

Answer 6

It can replace gas in a lot of cases, but there's a reason gas stations don't have ethanol cause the government protects gas and oil, it's a big tax issue and a lot of engines would have to be modified...

Answer 7

the head honchos of the US can do alot of things, but I doubt they can decide wether to eliminate gasoline, how many vehicles do you think would be sitting? gas is pricy, but not so bad that its looking to be done with.

Answer 8

i don;t think so it might tho