Which is better? Fossil fuels or E85 ethanol?

Question

In theory, which is a better fuel? Which is more efficient? Which is better for the environment? Which is cheaper to produce? (not to sell or buy, only to produce) Is it true that E85 ethanol releases more greenhouse gases than fossil fuels?

Answer 1

first remember that E85 is 85% ethanol which comes from a renewable source. ethanol can be made from a variety of sources, for example, the most common is corn. in Brazil they use sugar cane. alcohol can also be made from potatoes(where vodka comes from), the blue agave plant(where tequila comes from), wheat, barley, rice, etc. that said however the amount of energy required to get a combustible fuel is more than the energy we can get from an alcohol based fuel. by the way we need at least 160 proof(80%alcohol 20% water) alcohol to use in an internal combustion engine, though the higher the proof the better. now also consider that alcohol is hygroscopic which means it absorbes water. when it does this the proof rating goes down affecting the combustibility of the fuel. there are additive to prevent this though. now we add gasoline, and we have a gasohol mixture, E85 being at least 81% alcohol(minimum government standard) and 15% gasoline.

when you look at tailpipe emissions you will find that using the current sensors emissions will indeed appear to decrease. however alcohol is itself a hydrocarbon, but its structure is such that it burns colder than gasoline does, so sensors designed to read gasoline exhaust emissions wont read alcohol exhaust emissions, thus you "see" a decrease in exhaust emissions. however when you burn any hydrocarbon fuel, you get the same emissions output for similar combustion efficiency. thus environmentally E85 is actually a bit worse for the environment than straight gasoline, due to the extra energy required to create alcohol.

gasoline is more efficient fuel economy wise as it has greater btu content than alcohol, or any gasohol blend does, as you use less fuel to make the same power. alcohol does however allow you to run more compression, or should i say cylinder pressures, than gasoline will, thus you can gain back some of that fuel economy loss.

Answer 2

The use of E85 lays off thousands of US workers in the oil and gas industry, so take that one off you list. Corn ethanol makes just about 10% more energy to 10% less energy that it takes to grow and make the fuel. National geographic debunked you 1/6 ratio. E85 engines are not optimized to run on E85, they have to make the engine inefficient so it can run on E0, E10, E85 or a mixture, so they are NOT thermodynamically any better, as a matter of fact they are less efficient, than a engine tuned to a fixed 85 Octane fuel. Ethanol contains less energy per gallon, so any amount of ethanol must by the laws of the universe, get less miles per gallon. Ethanol cost more to make than gasoline, so the price you see at the pump on E85 is exactly every day, the same price as gasoline on an energy basis. Here is a fact that blows your E85 love affair away, the legal definition of E85 is that it must contain at least 70% to 75% (depending on state) ethanol. And no more than 85% ethanol. GUESS WHAT, the blenders make it meet the minimum because the cost of ethanol is so high and it throws out all those people that run the 85% ratio numbers. Plug in 70% ethanol and bingo everything adds up on mileage and cost. SO I'm here to educate you that E85 isn't what you think it is.

Answer 3

Fossil fuels are definitely more efficient. With E85 your MPG is usually 30% less than that of gasoline. E85 is cleaner burning. I'm assuming you mean is it cheaper for the US to pump our own oil vs. growing corn and turning it into fuel, in which case I do not know which is cheaper and how much margin there is? I look at it this way, were only now starting to produce E85 as an alternative fuel for daily drivers and the price at the pump is almost comparable to gasoline.

Answer 4

Better measured how? Fossil fuels are greatly more efficient, more heat value per gallon. More fuel efficient, having more btu/gallon. Better for the environment as you dont have to burn as much to get the energy you need. Cheaper to produce until gas hits about$4-5 per gallon. Yes E85 releases more gasses because you have to burn much more. And if all the cropland in the nation were not used for food production but for alcohol production, it would not produce enough to run all the cars, trucks, trains, and airplanes we now use.

Answer 5

Neither is better. Gasoline is currently more efficient, ethanol takes almost as much energy to make as it releases when burned. Ethanol is cleaner, by far. Gasoline is cheaper, and no it is not true that ethanol releases more greenhouse gasses.

Vegetable oil based fuel is superior to both right now.

Answer 6

Define better. Ethanol is essentially corn squeezings, moon shine. It takes a certain amount of energy to distill it, and it isn't as efficient as gasoline in an engine, and unless the engine is built with it in mind it ruins the seals in the fuel system. As a general rule you actually pay a bit more for it when you factor in the efficiency rating.

Answer 7

GAS-little bit better mpg, but worse for the enviromment, and will run out some day.

E85- not as good mpg, but better for the environment, and will always be around, and we have all the land we want, did you ever here genetically grown plants, we could grow corn in 1/2 the time then the regular. so the only bad thing about it is that its not as good mpg as gas.

Answer 8

Fossil,Yes

Answer 9

The gasoline contains more BTU's of energy. So the gas is more efficient. Actually, diesel's contain more BTU's than gas, that is why they get better mileage.