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Ethanol – An Answer to Rising Fuel Price

New generation cars are moving towards a greener technology. More numbers of people along with the government are wearing a green conscience today to maintain ecological balance and healthy environment.

The introduction of ethanol is a step towards green technology. Car manufacturers are working hard to come up with an ethanol hybrid engine to promote eco-friendly products.

What is Ethanol?

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, ETOH) is a volatile, flammable and colorless liquid with a characteristic odour. It is a highly miscible liquid that blends well with various organic solvents and water. Some of the common organic solvents that blend well with ethanol are acetic acid, benzene, acetone, chloroform, glycerol and toluene. It is also hygroscopic in nature.

Ethanol is a group of chemical compounds containing molecules of hydroxyl group and carbon atoms. Ethanol has a sweet flavour in dilute aqueous solution whereas in concentrated solution it gives a burning taste.

Ethanol as a Fuel

Most of the car manufacturers today have started using ethanol as automobile fuel. The alcohol is blended with gasoline at varying concentrations to form "gasohol". The most common blends of ethanol and gasoline are 10% ethanol and 85% ethanol mixed with gasoline. Ethanol-gasoline blends with 10% ethanol are called ‘low-level ethanol-gasoline’ and those that have ethanol concentrations of 60-85 percent are known as ‘high-level ethanol-gasoline’.

Low-level ethanol-gasoline blends are mainly used in most of the Canadian vehicles and high-level ethanol-gasoline blends are mainly used in flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs).

Environmental Benefits of Ethanol-Gasoline Blends

Adding ethanol to gasoline helps to enhance the octane number, which in turn allows the vehicle engine for complete and clean combustion. If the ethanol is produced from grains, then 10% ethanol-gasoline or low-level ethanol-gasoline blend reduce emissions by up to 4% and if produced from cellulosic biomass, it minimize emissions by up to 8%. 85% ethanol-gasoline or high-level ethanol-gasoline blends lower emissions by 60-80%. The reduction in emissions is attributed to the presence of oxygen factor that causes clean and complete combustion.

Being produced from plants, ethanol is also a renewable source of energy. So, the benefits of ethanol as an automotive fuel are two-folds.

Countries Using Ethanol as Automotive Fuel

Brazil and Sweden are the largest producers of vehicles that run on ethanol-gasoline blended fuel. Brazil is the largest producer of ethanol and therefore switched over to ethanol-blended fuel to reduce oil imports. 40% of the Brazil cars are fueled with pure ethanol and the remaining 60% cars with blended ethanol.

With the growing awareness of ethanol-gasoline blends, India has also initiated the use of ethanol as an automotive fuel. Based on various experiments done by the Indian Institute of Petroleum, a 10 percent ethanol-petrol blend (E10) and 15 percent ethanol-diesel blend (E15) is being considered for use in cars and other automotives in the country.

Currently, there is only one car compatible to E10 running on Indian roads, the new Honda Accord. Honda Siel Cars India is planning to introduce a car fueled with 20% ethanol-gasoline blend. General Motors and Maruti Suzuki are also keen to participate in the race.

Government’s Policy for Using Ethanol-Gasoline Blends

In order to boost the Indian agricultural sector and to reduce environmental pollution, Government of India is investigating the supply and benefits of ethanol-gasoline blends. The government is taking initiatives to cut down the fuel prices and also supporting the use of ethanol-doped-petrol.

Government has made huge investments in three pilot projects - two in Maharashtra and one in Uttar Pradesh. These projects are dedicated for supplying 5% ethanol-doped-petrol to the retail outlets in their respective regions. Before investing in these projects, government had made a good research on the availability of sugarcane in the country. Governments of all the major sugarcane producing states in India have confirmed that they have enough sugarcane to produce ethanol. Government is now planning to consider E10 mandatory by October 2008.

Ethanol, therefore could be a solution to the depleting fossil fuel which has currently engulf the auto industry.

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