why is ethanol is NOT a good alternative to gasoline?

Question

this question is an extra credit question for chemistry and i need to explain it in a 100 word paragraph
please -n- thankyou

Answer 1

More expensive and, compared to diesel, creates more pollution than it saves. It's not as green as environmentalists would have us believe.

Answer 2

One hundred words is not a lot to work with, and its a tough question because this is a hot political question, and so there are a lot of dubious claims circulating out there. Here's a high level, short scientific answer, using non-controversial data...

Ethanol is not a good alternative to gasoline, because the entire US corn crop, if converted to ethanol, would replace less than 17% of US gasoline consumption.

The US presently consumes 141 billion gallons per year of gasoline. Gasoline contains 1.5 times as much energy per gallon as ethanol, and so 212 billion gallons of ethanol would be required to replace all US gasoline consumption..

The entire US corn crop is 93 million acres. Assuming 100% conversion to ethanol, the entire US corn crop equals 35 billion gallons of ethanol. This is less than 17% of current US gasoline consumption. Thus, it is impossible for corn based ethanol to replace gasoline as a major US liquid fuel.

Answer 3

In most cases Ethanol is an additive TOO gasoline, not a pure substitute. Based on chemistry alone, you would have to note the value of stored energy vs the efficiency of releasing that energy in a reaction. (essentially heat capacity)

Heat capacity of Ethanol and Gasoline
____________per g __ per mole (in J/K)
Ethanol liquid 2.44_____ 112
Gasoline liquid 2.22_____ 228

So if you compare versus grams, ethanol is actually better, but if you compare versus one mole, Gas is better. So it all comes down to the physical make-up of the molecule.

Then there is Energy density, this maybe what your teacher is trying to get at...

Energy Density (by mass MJ/kg and by volume MJ/L)

gasoline 46.9 34.6
diesel fuel/residential heating oil 45.8 38.7
gasohol (10% ethanol 90% gasoline) 43.54
Jet A aviation fuel 42.8 33
biodiesel oil (vegetable oil) 42.20 30.53
ethanol 30 24

Kind of a trick question, and should really have more details for you to answer it correctly. Your teacher is an (explicative)

Answer 4

ethanol is a corn oil based substance that has the same effect as gasoline in internal combustion engines it helps raise your cars fuel efficiency so ethanol is a good alternative fuel for right now.
but in the long run scientists say that it could do up to thirty percent more damage to the ozone layer than gasoline does to the ozone layer right now

Answer 5

is it a trick question? It might be a trick question... The only thing I can think of is because of economic reasons I mean we just went to war over oil if we abandon it all the resources we just took over will lose value.

cost to produce is similar.
ethanol is better for the environment
both can run your car.
The economy isn't yet set up to produce enough ethanol to support us but if we reorganized things it's feasable so I don't know. It's driving up the price of corn because the govt decides how much corn we can produce. There's enough land to produce much more but the govt doesn't want to go that route at present time. Actually algae based ethanol appears to be the best route to go at current times most economical environmentally friendly and produces energy faster than corn.

Answer 6

Well it only runs in certain vehicle's because not all vehicles are adaptable to ethanol. Also ethanol comes from food and we need food. And if we have to grow more food, it would waste more land that could still be forests.

Answer 7

focus on the fact that ethanol is made from corn. What do cows eat? Corn. Ethanol production is already driving up the price of corn, and I'm sure milk, cheese, and meat will be soon to follow. Also the transportation issues of getting it from the heartland to the coasts. It requires special pipes and transport containers because it is corrosive.

Answer 8

Tell your teacher to get educated on ethanol. Ethanol is an excellent alternative to gasoline.

Big oil has created all kinds of lies because they feel threatened by ethanol. Ethanol is way better for our environment for starters and heres why:

Cars running on ethanol, which is distilled from agricultural crops and biomass are governed by the same laws of physics as those using petrol in that both fuels emit CO2 as a consequence of combustion, however the crucial difference is that burning ethanol recycles CO2 because it has already been removed from the atmosphere by photosynthesis during the natural growth of agricultural crops, such as corn plants. A corn plant removes CO2 from the atmosphere and uses it to grow and produce cornstarch. The plant is harvested and the cornstarch is fermented into ethanol. The ethanol is burned and the cycle repeats. NO NEW NET CARBON is added to the atmosphere when you use ethanol, unlike gasoline which spews tons of carbon into the atmosphere which has been trapped beneath the earth's surface for millions of years in the form of crude oil. You can burn all the ethanol you want and you are not contributing one iota to global warming. You are simply recycling carbon. And creating demand for ethanol by using it in your car stimulates farmers to plant more corn to meet the demand. More corn means more CO2 is removed from the atmosphere because corn, like all plants, takes in CO2 and gives off oxygen via photosynthesis. So not only are you not adding any new carbon to the air when you use ethanol, you are stimulating the planting of more corn plants which naturally fight global warming via photosynthesis.

In addition, using ethanol means no more devastating oil spills in the ocean which destroy all kinds of marine life and birds. And ethanol is now being produced via "green" means with ZERO fossil fuels used in the process. Read that again---ZERO FOSSIL FUELS ARE BEING USED TO MAKE ETHANOL. Ethanol plants are using wind energy and biomass exclusively for power because it saves them a heap on their natural gas bill. Below are 2 links to prove it:

http://www.connectbiz.com/stories/moonsh...

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/12/...


The top link above states that 1 gallon of fuel produces 6 gallons of ethanol. If it took more energy to make than ethanol yielded every ethanol plant in the country would go out of business because ethanol sells for cheaper than fossil fuels on a unit-by-unit basis. At some ethanol plants the net energy yield is essentially infinite as wind and biomass are used to produce it.

And why do people think that gasoline and diesel require no energy to produce? Gasoline doesn't come out of the ground. Crude oil does. That crude oil has to be shipped on a massive oil tanker 5000 miles from saudi arabia to the gulf of mexico. Then the crude oil has to be refined into usable gasoline. Both steps require massive amounts of fossil fuels.

Brazil has been using ethanol made from sugarcane for 25 years and not a single person has starved yet as a result. Believe it or not, people CAN and DO actually eat other things than just 100% corn all the time.

Haven't met a human yet who eats all corn all the time. Let's stop being brainwashed by big oil lies and start THINKING rationally for a change.

And most ethanol plants are located literally right next to the farming areas where corn is grown. In fact, 90% are farmer-owned co-ops. 5 miles is a much shorter distance than halfway around the world. Get educated on ethanol!

Answer 9

Ethanol produces harmful ozone when burnt. It is also not economically viable.

Answer 10

Ethanol was introduced to rduce oil/consumption. It lowers gas mileage and lowers performance. To use pure ethanol requires major revamping of all engines to burn pure ethanol.
Presently ethanol production has caused an increase of food prices world wide. Corn production for food has been changed to corn production for ethanol.