Ethanol As An Environmentally Friendly Fuel Essay

There is one reason that hurts me the most about corn ethanol being used in the United States. That one reason is because of animals. One of the bad uses we do is using leftover corn ethanol to fed animals we consume today. Animals like chicken, cattle, and pig eating ethanol is passed on to us. For example, just like a fish eating plastic and us eating the fish. This does not sound appealing. However, not everyone is worried about this.

Cellulosic ethanol is a biofuel produced from the waste of corn, and its potential for minimalizing pollution is huge. The first company to find the breakthrough, DSM, gained recognition, but was met with obstacles in the production of this biofuel in the form of rocks, which contaminated the corn waste and clogged the machinery. However, DSM soon overcame this obstacle and now produces truckloads of cellulosic ethanol every week. This environmentally friendly biofuel is everywhere, ranging from animal feed to solar panels. DSM is aimed towards “improving the planet and the lives of people on it”. Feike Sijbesma, the CEO of DSM, states that the company values “People. Planet. Profit” and is geared towards addressing malnutrition and climate

Switching from the expensive oil to alternative fuels has moved from a dream to reality. Today, there are dozens of alternatives to oil that are currently available us to be used. One alternative to oil that is being used more today is ethanol. Derived from plant materials, ethanol can be a cheaper, cleaner alternative to the gasoline that our vehicles run off. When going to gas pumps, one will notice that much of the gasoline is up to 10 percent of ethanol. According to our text, most ethanol in the U.S. is made from corn, yet ethanol can be made from any biomes-- including garbage. (Turk & Bensel, 2011)

     "We need more stringent regulations on car emissions... Let's add MTBE to the fuel- that will reduce pollution... If people would just stop driving so much, pollution wouldn't be so bad..." People have long recognized the problems with the gasoline we used now.  We have tried everything from putting regulations on emissions, to putting additives in the gasoline (only to discover later that MTBE got into the groundwater), to campaigns to get people off the road.  However, more and more cars are on the roads as the population increases, and people are not going to stop driving.  Additives are as likely to cause problems as they are to prevent them.  Just changing the

In the United States, ethanol is primarily used as a blending element in the production of gas and as an alternative fuel. More than 95% of the gasoline sold in the United States contains ethanol. Most of ethanol blending into U.S. motor gasoline occurs to meet the requirements of the 1990 Clean Air Act (RFG Fuel) and the Renewable Fuel Standard set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. (U.S Energy Information Administration)

Mankind has relied on non-renewable resources for thousands of years, and only recently has it started to take its toll on the environment. Chemists have been experimenting with different types of fuels and adding to gasoline to make it more efficient. This is when ethanol made its debut into the fuel industry, as an additive to gasoline. Ethanol is put into gas as a combatant against water, which can find its way into fuel tanks of vehicles. It reduces the effect that this water has on the health of the vehicle, and as a result increases gas mileage, and also increases the amount of complete combustion. Ethanol consumption has severe drawbacks pertaining to its effect on the environment. Production of ethanol increases the formation of

Ethanol is now found in most gasolines, except for the few and far between pumps that sell ethanol-free fuel. Ethanol acts as a “filler” in gasoline, because it is much cheaper than many gasoline components, however it comes at a price because ethanol infused gasoline procures about 33% less energy than ethanol free gasoline, dropping its competitiveness towards diesel even more. (Energy, 2015) Ethanol gasoline types include E10, E15, and E85. E10 represents gasoline with a 10% ethanol content, which is the norm now for most gasoline types, and what will mostly likely be in normal unleaded gasoline. E15, 15% ethanol, can only be used in flex-fuel or light duty cars because it produces not nearly enough power to run a large gasoline engine without major modifications. (Energy, 2015) E85, meaning that it is composed of 85% ethanol gasoline mixture (51-83% ethanol), and can only be used by special flex-fuel

The ethanol production process starts with growing corn, on average an acre of corn yields close to 7,110 pounds of corn that require 140 gallons of fossil fuels to grow through the use of liquid fertilizer and powering machinery (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 4). The corn is harvested and transported to an ethanol refinery where it is ground, then water is added to create a mash in which enzymes break down the corn into sugar, afterward the sugar is mixed with yeast and fermented to produce ethanol (Ethanol Fuel: is ethanol par. 9-10). During the process of growing and processing the corn needed to manufacture one gallon of ethanol, it requires 131,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) to generate a gallon of ethanol while a gallon of ethanol produces only 77,000 BTU (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 5). The net ratio of energy for ethanol production is undesirable because ethanol has barely over half of the total energy needed to produce ethanol. Other materials can produce ethanol, such as switch grass or wood biomass, however, their energy returns are just as atrocious, needing forty-five percent and fifty-seven percent more energy to produce ethanol than it provides, respectively (Lang par. 5). This net

This report extensively analyses the production and breakdown of Ethanols, to assess its properties and their relation to being a fuel. The use of Ethanol as reliable source of renewable energy and its current effects on society. The potential use of ethanol as an alternative to coal and fossil fuels, the advantages and disadvantages of Ethanol.

Growing corn for ethanol could be beneficial for the economy by providing more jobs as needed on the farms. The farmers would have to purchase more farm equipment which would boost our economy even more. Plus the fact that the US could cut out the middle man or the need to import ethanol from other countries; thus, keeping money inside our country and not giving it all away to other countries. This all looks good on paper for the economy but when it comes to the environmental side of things scientist seem to think there is more of a downside to this. I can see where the ethanol use as fuel from corn would be of great importance to the environment as it would cut out the need for the bad emissions released by straight gasoline.

In the eleven years since the Renewable Fuel Standard was signed in to law, US Corn production has shifted from feeding faces to fuel tanks, stirring a controversy over corns purpose. In 2007, the food or fuel controversy landed on the floor of the United Nations when Jean Ziegler, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, stated that diverting cropland from food to fuel is a crime against humanity (Ferrett). The Renewable Fuel Standard, signed in to law in 2005, is a mandate that requires renewable fuels, such as corn based ethanol, be blended into transportation fuel (“Renewable…”). Ethanol is grain alcohol that can be fermented from many sources, most commonly corn and sugar cane, that is then blended with gasoline (“Ethanol…”). Today, roughly forty percent corn grown in the US is used to produce ethanol, accounting for the crops single largest use. Expansion of ethanol production in the United States has been intended to lower emissions, and increase energy independence; however, this well intentioned program could be having a detrimental effect on developing nations by increasing the cost of and decreasing the supply of corn.

For over forty years now, scientists and researchers have been tirelessly searching for an alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels have become an interesting contender in the search for the replacement of the non-renewable energy source. Biofuels have been used throughout history for over thousands of years. There is a large debate over biofuels and its true impact on the environment. Those involved in the discussion debating whether biofuels have any real overwhelming benefits compared to fossil fuels could argue for its usage. According to recent research performed by the University of Michigan, biofuels may not be the best alternative for fossil fuels. Regardless of its impact on the environment, biofuels are becoming more popular particularly when the price of oil rises.

Well we all know that the energy system is very unstable because the total energy available on the earth is limited, and man has exploited all the conventional technologies to fulfill his needs. By the use of these conventional technologies, the world also has a disability, with problems such as global warming. Consumption of energy by man increased gradually as his wants also increase. The conventional energy resources mainly include fossil fuels, but research shows that this fuel source will be depleted completely in approximately 20-25 years. This could cause major setbacks around the world. As a result, we need an alternative source of fuel that could keep the world running on its wheel. One possibility is ethanol. Chemically extract

This essay will first discuss the advantages of using corn ethanol as the main source of fuel in the future, such as the renewable features of corn itself, and the benefits of using corn ethanol as an additive of gasoline instead of using gasoline alone. However, everything has its strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, the second part of the essay will discuss some of the weaknesses in applying the fuel into practical usage. For example, corn ethanol currently encounters technical limitations serving itself as a standalone fuel, meaning that corn ethanol can only function by combining itself with a certain amount of gasoline, while gasoline is a kind of fossil fuel. Lastly, this essay will conduct a comparison with other renewable resources in the world, including solar power, other biofuels, and hydrogen fuel.

What environmental benefits do we receive form an influx in ethanol as an alternative fuel? First let’s look