ethanol as an alternative fuel need sources (1 Viewer)

[Minimitt]

Hey as the title says i need sources for the dot point

process information from secondary sources to summarise the use of ethanol as an alternative car fuel, evaluating the success of current usage

problem is that i cannot find a decent source to answer it, used the HSC online site to break the dot point up into several questions, but with no avail

just wondering if anyone has some decent sources around, or notes

HSC Online Summary:

• Identify reliable information by considering it from various sources. Continue processing the information by creating summary notes of how well ethanol functions as an alternative car fuel.
• An evaluation is a judgement based on criteria. In your evaluation, list the criteria you used. Consider the following issues.
  • The energy and financial cost of separating ethanol from the aqueous ethanol produced in fermentation.
  • What percentage of ethanol can be added to petrol without engine modification? In Australia there is concern about the sale of 20%ethanol-80%petrol mixtures as petrol. The federal government is planning to restrict petrol to contain no more than 10% ethanol.
  • Requirements of engines using ethanol only.
  • The effect on exhaust pollutants of using ethanol fuel.
  • The economic cost at different prices for oil, costs and subsidies, and different rates of taxation levied by governments, on different fuels.

thanks,

 

[davidbarnes]

Please let us know if you do find something great.

 

[Famguy]

same here, let us know if you find something good

 

[minijumbuk]

Copied straight from Conquering Chemistry: 4th edition:
The advantages of using ethanol as a fuel are:

�* It is a renewable resource and so would reduce the use of non-renewable
fossil fuel (provided less fossil fuel was used to make the ethanol than was
‘saved’ by using the ethanol in cars).

�* It could reduce greenhouse gas emissions (if the amount of CO2 not released
from oil because of the use of ethanol in cars was greater than the CO2
released from the fossil fuels used to make the ethanol).

The disadvantages are:

�* Large areas of agricultural land would need to be devoted to growing
suitable crops with consequent environmental problems such as soil erosion,
deforestation, fertiliser runoff and salinity.

�* Disposal of the large amounts of smelly waste fermentation liquors after
removal of ethanol would also present major environmental problems.

The current situation in Australia
1. Ethanol costs more than petrol to produce so the federal government has set
up subsidies and excise concessions to encourage the production of ethanol
(from crops) to be added to petrol (presumably to reduce oil consumption).

2. Car manufacturers accept that up to 10% ethanol in petrol has no
detrimental effect on vehicles but have opposed higher concentrations.

3. Significant quantities of petrol with 10% ethanol in it are available in some
parts of Australia, but there is considerable public suspicion of this blended
fuel, largely because of incidents involving some petrol suppliers who put
excessive amounts of ethanol in their petrol (to gain from the government
subsidies), and because of car manufacturers who have widely claimed that
amounts above 10% could damage car engines and may void warranties.
4. There are no reliable studies to show whether ethanol as made in Australia
from wheat or molasses produces less greenhouse gas in total than does the
petrol it replaces.

 

[izzah1]

Some more advantages and disadvantages include;

Advantages

* Ethanol is far more clean burning and requires less oxygen to undergo complete combustion due to the oxygen atom present in each molecule hence it is far cleaner burner which doesn't produce harmful chemicals like carbon monoxide as in petrol based cars.

Disadvantages

* Lower molar heat of combustion than petrol
* Existing Car engines have to be modified due to the fact that even the purest ethanol contains a small amount of water which can adversly affect the engine and the fuel lines hence making it quite uneconomical to utilise pure ethanol
* A large amount of energy has to be utilised to produce ethanol as it must be distilled from the fermentation mixture hence increasing its cost compared to petrol

Current Usage
8 million cars worldwide run on either pure ethanol or ethanol blends
In Brazil all cars utilise a blend of ethanol and petrol
10% blends are available in many countries such as the US and Sweden
Considered uneconomical in Australia therefore it is not widely used.

There is probably heaps more other ppl can add but there is a start =)

 

[Lucid Scintilla]

"summarise the use of ethanol as an alternative car fuel"
*Pros and cons.

"evaluating the success of current usage"
*Evaluate: "make a judgement based on criteria; determine the value of".
**Judgement: "The use of ethanol as an alternative fuel source is is currently unviable on account of the associated economic cost and agricultural implications; however, due to the rising price of petroleum, the exhaustion of fossil fuels, and growing environmental awareness and concern, it is becoming increasingly feasible and desired. In order for ethanol to be used as a fuel effectively, car engines need to be designed such that they can run on ethanol without damage (petroleum lubricates the engine, reducing rust, and wears the engine less than ethanol)."

1. In Brazil all cars utilise a blend of ethanol and petrol
2. 10% blends are available in many countries such as the US and Sweden

Questions:

1. Brazil relevant? If so, why? Surely, it isn't necessary to mention it.
2. Why, of all countries, is Sweden a point of comparison?

 

[Darrow]

1. Brazil relevant? If so, why? Surely, it isn't necessary to mention it.
2. Why, of all countries, is Sweden a point of comparison?

1) Brazil is actually using 100% blends to my knowledge, its an example of how ethanol has the potential to be used as an alternative to petrol

But due to their ethanol production they have a grain shortage, which has effected the world market... dont quote me on that though

2) Again, it is a comparison (which is good for a response), you could add australia to that list of 10% blend users too