The Economist says everyone is wrong about ethanol
This article will certainly please some of our readers, and with good reason.
Titled "Ethanol, schmethanol," the article is from the current issue of the Economist and says that everyone is wrong that ethanol will make cars greener. The problem with the piece is that instead of telling us in detail why ethanol doesn't make driving more green; it goes into detail about other fuels like biopetrol and butanol and octanol. Deep, deep detail.
Still, having an article that explains some of ethanol's inherent flaws (less energy than petrol, engine corrosion, water absorption) in comparison to other fuels will be a good resource for those of you who like to point out why ethanol is a terrible idea. If you don't want to read through the piece and just want a quote from the piece that summarizes the story, try this one: "the political rush to back ethanol, just because it is green and people have heard of it, is a mistake."
[Source: The Economist]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
dhofmann 7:38PM (9/29/2007)
Does ethanol really corrode engines that are designed for it?
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GreyFlcn 9:59PM (9/29/2007)
"The carbon dioxide produced by burning it was recently in the atmosphere. Putting that CO2 back into the air can therefore have no adverse effect on the climate."
Which of course ignores the fact that:
1. There are more greenhouse gases than CO2. Even though CH4 only has 1 carbon atom. It's 23x more potent than CO2. N2O which comes almost exclusively from agricultural fertilizers is 296x more potent than CO2.
2. When you have snowball effects like global warming; You have to displace more carbon than what you put up to get a "net equal" effect. Kind of like how you have to pay back a loan with principle PLUS interest.
3. The whole concept of "carbon nuetral" is just silly since we aren't going to get anywhere unless we go carbon-negative.
4. Another thing which they tend to leave out habitually is that photosynthesis is the REAL bottleneck in this whole thing.
http://greyfalcon.net/sugarsolar
http://greyfalcon.net/ethanol.png
Photosynthesis is very inefficient way to capture sunlight into energy.
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Chris 10:59PM (9/29/2007)
"everyone is wrong about ethanol"?
After reading that, I expected the article to say ethanol was *good*.
Pretty much EVERY article about ethanol says it sucks, unless it's published by the ethanol industry or a mid-west state.
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Bob Seeley 2:36AM (9/30/2007)
We should demand that every Congreesman and every Senator sign an affidavit that they have read and understand that document. Then they will have NO EXCUSE.
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rgseidl 7:24AM (9/30/2007)
The Economist article fails to point out that energy density isn't the only fuel property that counts. Octane number is another. Alcohols generally have lower values than the comparable paraffin (alkane) isomer with the same number of carbon atoms. Substituting bulk gasoline with corn ethanol (cp. E85) is indeed a bad idea from an EROEI perspective. However, now that the carcinogen MTBE may no longer be used, lower fractions of ethanol (e.g. E10) will still be required to meet octane requirements even if higher alcohols like butanol, pentanol etc. are employed.
@ dhofmann -
vehicles certified as FFVs use special materials in the fuel system to avoid elastomer swelling and corrosion issues normally associated with E85. Most vehicles with conventional fuel systems can only handle E10, i.e. fuel with 10% ethanol by weight.
Note that the engine itself isn't harmed by ethanol, provided you use an engine oil with suitable corrosion inhibitors. That's because 1-2% of the hot combustion gases - including water vapor - always blow by the pistons into the crankcase. To avoid a build-up of pressure, the crankcase is ventilated, i.e. connected to the intake manifold. Oil separation cyclones built into the ventilation path make sure only gases re-enter the cylinder.
During engine warm-up, when the clearance between aluminum piston and cast iron piston liner is not yet optimal, a tiny fraction of the fuel inevitably makes it into the oil as well. This is why you need to change your oil more frequently if you tend to take only short trips with your car, especially in winter. Any unburnt ethanol in the blow-by will be hygroscopic, so FFVs actually operated on E85 should be treated to oil grades with appropriate additives (emulsifiers) to keep the ethanol and condensed water vapor in harmless suspension.
It the even smaller molecule methanol that is directly corrosive to aluminum, which is what pistons, valves and cylinder heads - sometimes crankcases, too - are made of. This is one of several reasons why methanol is used only in certain racing applications.
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detroit9000 8:05PM (9/30/2007)
Why focus on green only? Ethanol is a great "now" stop-gap measure to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. It's a side benefit that it's at least as, if not more green than other existing, reasonable "now" options.
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studemax 10:26AM (10/01/2007)
Finally! Something in the media that is ethanol negative (and also intelligent).
All it will take for the greenies to change their minds is to start running it in their vehicles.
When the problems start impacting their wallets, they'll change their tune - pronto!
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BurlHaigwoodCFDC 12:08PM (10/02/2007)
What’s in bandwagon? Gasoline? I have not seen any recent articles outlining the benefits of gasoline and imported oil. Where is the perspective -- ethanol compared to what? It appears the ethanol critiques have conveniently forgot we have a problem with oil, which is why we have an opportunity to change status quo with ethanol. For the short version, and to get the facts and context Google Ethanol Fact Book. The debate over ethanol should be focused on our nation’s core values and moral integrity and why we don’t have more alternatives to oil – not bashing the only one that has actually made a difference.
Those who care to gain some often lost context and perspective to the ethanol issue might consider the following books. They contain a lot of validated research and objective information from world renowned experts in their field.
1. Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Dependence on Imported Petroleum, by Michael Klare, published by Henry Holt and Company (an Owl Book)
2. The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World, by Paul Roberts, published by Houghton Mifflin Company (A Mariner Book).
3. Over a Barrel: Breaking the Middle East Oil Cartel, by Raymond J. Learsy, published by Nelson Current
4. Beyond Oil: The View from Herbert's Peak, by Kenneth S. Deffeyes, published by Hill and Wang (a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
5. Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy by Matthew R. Simmons, published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
6. The Empty Tank: Oil, Gas, Hot Air, and The Coming Global Financial Catastrophe, by Jeremy Leggett, published by Random House
7. Winning the Oil Endgame, by Amory B. Lovins, published by the Rocky Mountain Institute in cooperation with the Department of Defense.
BurlHaigwoodCFDC
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StevenD 9:40PM (10/05/2007)
"SOMETIMES you do things simply because" the oil companies are paying you with money paid for by our own blood sweat and dignity.
"Unless it is mixed with some other fuel, such as petrol, the result is corrosion that can wreck an engine's seals in a couple of years. So..." Mix it with petrol. Isn't that the point?
"Whether biofuels will ever be competitive with fossil fuels remains to be seen." I don't remember ever seeing a "greenie" talking about the two fuels competing, because ethanol cannot compete by itself. I think any reduction of fossil fuel burning should be the goal.
"the political rush to back ethanol, just because it is green and people have heard of it, is a mistake." But maybe they should back it because our kids are riding tractors to grow it, our recently unemployed are driving to the plants to make it, no matter how inefficiently, our biotechnologists, (is that really a word?) are figuring a a better way of making it, and our politicians are busy bringing home our soldiers. And our Big Oil propagandists are working at McDonalds in hopes of getting the used vegetable oil to put in their 85 BMWs.
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