The Downfall of Ethanol
This decade has brought on a serious change in the energy mentality of the United States. After the oil crisis of the ’70s, we settled back into a pattern of unsustainable, guilt-free consumption. But in the last few years, consistently high oil prices have finally created a push to find more sustainable, alternative energy sources. One of the more popular of these alternatives has been biofuel, including ethanol and biodiesel. Ethanol fuel is made by extracting the ethanol from either feedstock or a number of vegetable crops such as potatoes, corn, or sugar. Through a series of chemical reactions it is turned into fuel that can be either used alone or combined with gasoline. Biodiesel can be made from waste oil after it has been used for cooking. It can also be used alone or combine with petroleum diesel to create a hybrid fuel. Both of these biofuels burn cleaner, producing much less CO2, which is a major contributor to global warming.The energy per unit of ethanol is 34 lower than that of gasoline. So while it burns much cleaner, it takes much more of it to do the same work. Engines made specifically for ethanol have higher compression rates and can produce greater energy percentages, but they are still not equal to gasoline. Another concern many have expressed is the amount of crops and energy it takes to produce this fuel. Corn has long been an abundant crop grown throughout the American Midwest. However, now that so much of it is being dedicated to ethanol production, there are concerns that it could become scarce. The chemical processes that must be preformed consume a great deal of energy. Some suggest it is taking almost as much energy to create ethanol as it will produce. A shift to using Brazilian cane sugar has the potential to produce more promising results, but it remains to be seen whether ethanol will be the energy alternative of the future of just starve of us of valuable food.