Energy Fuels
Ethanol / Corn
By: Kathleen Barrett

What is Ethanol

Uses of Ethanol

Pros

• Large amount of Corn in the United States
• More ethanol production means more demand for jobs
• Organic Material so this energy fuel is biodegradable, renewable, and sustainable

Pros

• No hazardous materials are used only uses natural materials lessening the risk of global warming

Cons

• Less Energy content compared to Gas or diesel delivering less power when burned. Decreases a vehicle’s mileage from 20%-30%
• Does not provide more miles per dollar compared to gas
• Ethanol which creates alcohol breaks down rubber in cars and damages engines.

Cons

• Absorbs water much faster contaminate it making it difficult to ship through pipelines
• 450 pounds to fill the tank of an SUV. Producing enough ethanol to replace America's imported oil would require putting nearly 900 million acres under cultivation—or roughly 95 percent of the active farmland in the country.

Tax Dollars for Research

• To an Extent.
• Find ways on how we can use ethanol fuel by creating cars that can withstand ethanol's cons.
• Other ways to use ethanol fuel for instances finding ways to burn ethanol in factories or other sources that need to burn fossil fuels for energy.

Why Not?

• U.S. practice of making ethanol from corn is by far the least efficient way to produce the fuel, yielding about 300 gallons per acre, compared to sugar-cane ethanol (600 gals/acre)

My Opinion on Ethanol Fuel

• Although it is used vastly in our everyday lives, unfortunately the cons outweigh the pros in that using Corn Ethanol as a Energy fuel for transportation can cause more damages and is not as efficient. I believe with more research we can find other forms of Energy fuel.

References