Ethanol or No Ethanol

Debate over biofuels has always been more about politics and economics than technology.  Consider for example, drought conditions in 2012 that brought attention to ethanol as a component of transportation fuel.  In this case, there was a call for Congress to suspend biofuel production 'goals' that were originally mandated to reduce US greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  So, suspend our GHG emission goals in favor of lower food costs?

It gets very complicated very quickly, so rather than get mired in macro-economics that are beyond Triple E's understanding, let's examine the scientific and quasi-political components of the debate.

Triple E Agent Assignment:
Present the pros and cons for using ethanol as a fuel additive or as a primary fuel...

What do you put first, personal economic gain/savings, environmental benefits, or the state of the union?


A Chronology of Significant Events for Related Technology:
Crude oil came onto the scene in 1859, with the discovery of oil in Pennsylvania.  Nikolaus August Otto of Germany, presented the 'first' internal combustion engine in the 1860s, running on ethanol.  Ford's first car, the 'quadricycle', ran on pure ethanol (E100) in 1896.  In 1898, Rudolph Diesel first demonstrated his compression diesel engine by running it on peanut oil.  The 1908 Model T was designed to be the first flex-fuel vehicle, by Henry Ford & company, to run on ethanol, gasoline, or a mixture.  These innovations in transportation technology may have turned to biofuels because agriculture, natural oils, and alcohol were more readily available than petroleum-based fuels?  Also, early compression engines required higher octane fuels to function properly.

Today, there are subsidies/tax credits given to those that blend ethanol with gasoline, which creates a market for any biomass that can be converted into ethanol.  When government subsidies are involved it is very easy to shout conspiracy and resist.  However, Triple E likes to trust that our government officials, the Department of Energy (DOE), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), etc. are looking at all of the advantages and disadvantages on a large-scale and putting the US economy and people (as a whole) on the best path.

An argument can be made for or against ethanol in our fuel tanks, but it really comes down to a personal decision when you are at the pump (see image above).  Here are some of the major Pros and Cons to consider.

Pros:

• use of corn-based ethanol as a transportation fuel reduces greenhouse-gas emissions (GHGs) by up to 52%, use of cellulosic ethanol as a transportation fuel reduces GHGs by up to 86%
• emission tests show that a flex-fuel vehicle running on E85 produces 1/9 of the nitrogen oxide (air pollutant) produced by the same vehicle burning gasoline
• ethanol increases the octane rating of a fuel
• ethanol reduces reliance on foreign petroleum-based fuels, and supports more than 400,000 US jobs

Cons:

• E85 has 27% less energy per gallon than gasoline
• production of ethanol as a transportation fuel may increase GHG emissions relative to gasoline as a transportation fuel
• more water is used for producing biomass-based fuels than for producing petroleum-based fuels
• 'older' engines are not designed to run with ethanol, some engine damage could occur

For each bulleted item above, you can probably find a conflicting report that would move the bullet to the other list.  However, these seem to be accurate representations of the facts if you consider the careful use of a few words like 'use' or 'production.'  Use only considers the consumption portion of a fuel's life-cycle and production only considers the growth phase of the biomass life-cycle.

There is a lot of misinformation about biofuels (e.g., ethanol) and the effects that they have or do not have on engines.  There are also a lot of conflicting reports on octane ratings, fuel mileage and cost-benefit analyses regarding E10 or E85 versus 100% pure gasoline (see comments to MSM article).  Triple E believes that vehicles manufactured in this century can use E10 without harming the engine, and that those same vehicles can run just fine on 85 octane (see Rocky Mountain states) or higher fuels.  When was the last time you heard your engine knocking?

It's Your Call,
Triple E.