Green Vocab!Flexible Fuel Vehicle:A car that can alternate between two or more types of fuel, such as petroleum and ethanol. |
BioalcoholAlthough fossil fuels are the predominant fuel today, alcohol has been used as fuel for thousands of years. The major alcohols used as fuel include methanol, propanol, butanol, and ethanol. These alcohols are ideal as fuel, because they can be made biologically or chemically. They also have characteristics that allow them to be used in current engines. However, methanol and ethanol are the two more commonly used ones. [4.3]  [4.4] ProductionBoth methanol and ethanol can be derived biologically. Ethanol can be obtained through the fermentation of sugars and methanol can be obtained through the synthesis of gas. However, there are more modern ways of obtaining this fuel. [4.5] Methanol can be made in a lab by converting biomass into synthesis gas in a gasifier and ethanol can be made in a lab by breaking down biomass using enzymes instead of fermentation. [4.6] Methanol and Ethanol as FuelMethanol has a long history of being a fuel exclusive to racing cars. Early Grand Prix Racing used both blended methanol and pure methanol fuel. The Indy Racing league too has used methanol for their race cars. This is due to the fact that methanol is more fuel efficient than ethanol. However, it would be difficult to use methanol as a mass produced biofuel due to the complexity of it's chemical production. [4.6]Ethanol, on the other hand, is a widely used and well known biofuel. It can be used as a ethanol-gasoline blend or a pure ethanol fuel. The advantages of ethanol fuel over methanol fuel is that it is less corrosive and non-toxic. The Indy Racing League, who has been using methanol fuel as their exclusive fuel since the 1960s, recently switched to ethanol blend fuel in 2007. [4.7]  Home | Biofuels and Bioenergy | Innovators | Issues | Impacts | About Us | Citations |
