Should Your Car Run On Ethanol Fuel?
There are many alternatives to gasoline out there now. You have electric, bio-diesel and even hydrogen engines that are being researched. But one of the leading contenders to gasoline’s crown as king is ethanol fuel. You could argue that it’s leading the pack. But should we put all of our eggs in one basket?
In the 80’s, there was an episode of “The Dukes of Hazzard” in which Uncle Jesse ran the General Lee on his famous moonshine. When you buy ethanol fuel at a gas station, you’re essentially doing the same thing because ethanol is found in most liquors. The process of making it is almost identical to that of making home made moonshine with the old favorites of fermentation and distillation included.
ethanol as an alternative fuel
In fact, ethanol fuel isn’t made solely from the fermentation process; it has to be mixed with gasoline to run and then it’s a tricky process. Get the wrong mixture of ethanol and you’re likely to have a bad day on the interstate. But still, it is a viable biofuel that wouldn’t require everyone to purchase new vehicles or converters.
But is alternative fuel source cheaper than gas? To answer; no. In fact, it’s slightly more expensive and this creates a problem. Most people are already fed up with the prices being charged at the pumps. If they have to pay more for a biofuel then it seems likely they may not be willing to do so. Unless of course it’s cleaner and better for the environment. Ethanol as an alternative fuel vehicle isn’t, studies suggest. There is only a minimal differentiation between the green house gases emitted by gas burning cars and those emitted by ethanol burning ones.
alternative fuel systems
There’s also the fuel efficiency problem. Ethanol fuel is about thirty four percent less efficient than gasoline. That means you’d be putting more fuel in your car more frequently and paying the same or higher price. Outstanding eh? But there is a major advantage to ethanol.
In ethanol engines, the engines that can burn pure ethanol, you get considerably higher torque and acceleration than gas engines would get. Not to mention an overall increase in the power performance of your engine. But most of us don’t have ethanol engines or alternative fuel sources and to enjoy this advantage, we would be forced to replace our gasoline engines and that would be expensive.
alternative fuel sources
Ethanol fuel is popular, of that there can be no doubt. So, is ethanol as an alternative fuel viable? Maybe not, but given it’s popularity it isn’t easy to write it off as a contender either.
Filed under Automotive