Ethanol, a plant-based fuel, is promoted as a viable alternative to foreign oil. It burns cleaner than gasoline, reduces toxic emissions and dependence on imported oil. However, it can be corrosive, less fuel-efficient, and require more land and resources to produce. The benefits of ethanol are debated, but it is being actively advocated for increased domestic production.
In an effort to find a viable alternative to foreign oil, many politicians and environmental groups have heavily promoted the benefits of ethanol. Ethanol is a primarily plant-based fuel that can be produced from sources such as sugar cane, corn, waste paper, and grains such as wheat or sorghum.
This organic origin is one of the benefits of ethanol fuel most strongly touted by its proponents, who strongly believe that drivers would be better served by a dependence on domestic farmers than by dependence on foreign oil producers and big oil companies. While ethanol has a number of advantages over other alternative fuels and the gasoline it would replace, there are also some disadvantages to consider before making a large-scale switch at the pumps.
One of the benefits of ethanol fuel is its organic origin. In Brazil, the world’s largest producer of ethanol right now, used sugarcane is processed to create a form of alcohol, much like the distillation process used to create mash-based spirits. In the United States, ethanol is derived primarily from corn. Since corn and sugarcane are both renewable resources grown by domestic farmers, the connection to the land is often touted as one of the major benefits of ethanol.
However, this connection to the land could also be seen as a disadvantage. In order to produce enough corn or wheat or sugarcane to meet the demands of the ethanol industry, farmers may have to limit the amount of their crop available for other uses. This often means higher prices for feed, flour, corn, grains and many products derived from those commodities. Even if all available farmland in the United States were converted to corn fields for ethanol production, it would still meet only a small percentage of the country’s total energy needs. Corn production can be very labor intensive, and corn crops may still be vulnerable to harsh weather, drought or insect damage.
Ethanol burns cleaner than gasoline, which is another of the benefits of ethanol fuel heavily promoted by its proponents. Cars capable of using E85 ethanol, an 85/15% blend of ethanol in gasoline, create fewer toxic emissions. Ethanol does not contain significant amounts of toxic materials such as lead and benzene. By reducing the amount of greenhouse gases and ozone created by car exhaust, the use of ethanol is believed to be a much better alternative to gasoline.
Although ethanol reduces the toxicity of car exhausts, it can also be very corrosive. Ethanol can absorb water and dirt very easily, and if these contaminants are not filtered out successfully, they can cause damage and corrosion within the engine block. Fuel efficiency is also a consideration when considering the benefits of ethanol fuel. Ethanol, at least in its current form, doesn’t appear to provide the same fuel efficiency as gasoline. Drivers would need more ethanol to travel the same distance, and ethanol prices are expected to be higher than gasoline prices when and if it is implemented nationwide. Drivers of ethanol-powered cars may also have to travel further distances to find a specialty service station that offers E85 ethanol.
Another of the benefits of ethanol is the reduced dependence on imported oil. While ethanol can never fully replace petroleum as the United States’ primary energy source, it can reduce the total amount of petroleum the country would need to import. Critics suggest that a future dependence on commercial corn would only replace oil-rich sheikhs with skilled American farmers, but at least the national economy would reap significant benefits. All peripheral industries related to agriculture, such as transportation and food processing, would benefit from the economic demands of ethanol production.
However, this theoretical economic growth associated with ethanol production may have its downsides. The land used to grow corn and other grains can become depleted of minerals and other organic nutrients if it is overworked. The amount of additional energy needed to transport and process corn could result in a neutral or even negative return on the energy produced from ethanol. Essentially, producing ethanol would cost more than the country would ever see in savings on imported oil. The entire amount of ethanol produced would have to be used to meet a percentage of domestic fuel demand. Ethanol would not become a viable source of income from export to other countries.
The debate over the pros or cons of ethanol fuel could rage on for years, even as many people in positions of power are starting to actively advocate for increased domestic ethanol production. Many farmers are also increasing the amount of farmland dedicated to corn production and other ethanol refining plants are applying for permission to start building new plants. While other alternative fuels such as hydrogen and solar energy remain largely in the research stage, ethanol appears to be the first to be implemented on a national scale.
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