13.02.07 Ethanol: it's cheap, it's clean(ish) but is it viable?
Rising oil costs and environmental concerns have increased pressure on the motor industry to develop alternative fuels to power Britain’s vehicles. Could ethanol be a viable alternative to petrol in the UK?
Would you switch to ethanol if the fuel was widely available?
A large proportion of Brazil's vehicles are fueled by sugar cane. Read our ethanol article to find out more about this environmentally friendly and vote whether you would switch to it or not.
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I have just spotted a Biodiesel station in Liverpool. Will you be including Biodiesel prices in your system soon?
"Ethanol" has been around a long time, E10 is used in the USA, along with E85 and E95. However, the latter need redesigned engines.
Ethanol at present, is only 60/70% efficient as Petrol, and has a nasty habit of retaining water, which leads to corrosion. The "energy" cost to produce the product, is in excess of present "Fossil Fuels".
The development of "cellulosic ethanol" is a long way in the future, and has its own set of problems to be sorted out.
"Alcool" from Sugar Cane, was used in the 1980's in Brazil, but collasped after proving too expensive for the market. It was highly subsidised by the Government and failed.
Ethanol, is subsidised in the USA at present time, but is begining to suffer the same fate, as its Brazilian counterpart. The jury is still out.
Standard engines must be modified to run on pure ethanol; "gasahol" is about 10% ethanol in gasoline. However, there is an alternative, the Fischer-Tropsch reaction. This converts a source of carbon to something resembling crude oil. This was used in Germany in WW2, and, more recently, in South Africa (SASOL). In both of these, the carbon was low-grade coal, but it will work on fresh plant material, which is burned in a limited supply of air to make "synthesis gas". Any plant material will do - grass clippings are ideal. Since such fuel is made from atmospheric carbon dioxide, it does not increase the concentration in the atmosphere. Given adequate tax incentives, crops could be grown for this purpose - it is the ultimate in recycling.