Ethanol fuel
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Ethanol fuel is ethanol (ethyl alcohol), the
same type of alcohol found in alcoholic bever-
ages. It can be used as a fuel, mainly as a bio-
fuel alternative to gasoline, and is widely
used by flex-fuel light vehicles in Brazil, and
as an oxygenate to gasoline in the United
States. Together, both countries were re-
sponsible for 89 percent of the world’s
ethanol fuel production in 2008.[1] Because it
is easy to manufacture and process and can
be made from very common crops such as
sugar cane and corn, in several countries eth-
anol fuel is increasingly being blended as
gasohol or used as an oxygenate in gasoline.
Bioethanol, unlike petroleum, is a renewable
resource that can be produced from agricul-
tural feedstocks.
Anhydrous ethanol (ethanol with less
than 1% water) can be blended with gasoline
in varying quantities up to pure ethanol
(E100), and most modern gasoline engines
will operate well with mixtures of 10% ethan-
ol (E10).[2] Most cars on the road today in
the U.S. can run on blends of up to 10% eth-
anol,[3] and the use of 10% ethanol gasoline
is mandated in some cities where harmful
levels of auto emissions are possible.
Ethanol can be mass-produced by ferment-
ation of sugar or by hydration of ethylene
(ethene CH2=CH2) from petroleum and other
sources. Current interest in ethanol mainly
lies in bio-ethanol, produced from the starch
or sugar in a wide variety of crops, but there
has been considerable debate about how
useful bio-ethanol will be in replacing fossil
fuels in vehicles. Concerns relate to the large
amount of arable land required for crops,[4]
as well as the energy and pollution balance of
the whole cycle of ethanol production.[5][6]
Recent developments with cellulosic ethanol
production and commercialization may allay
s