Ethanol and Methano

Ethanol and methanol are alcohols and are highly flammable. They can be made from plant sugars or plant fibers. Alcohol is produced by feeding plant materials into large heated tanks called digesters. Inside the tanks, chemicals or yeasts are added to change the plant materials into alcohol. The alcohol is extracted, purified, and prepared for use as a fuel. Both ethanol and methanol make excellent fuels for cars and trucks. In fact, ethanol is used in the engines of Formula 1 racing cars. It burns very cleanly, and delivers more power than gasoline. Many service stations now sell fuels that contain a blend of gasoline and an alcohol, usually ethanol.
Methanol and ethanol can be deadly poisons, especially in the amounts used to make transportation fuels. Methanol is especially toxic. Even small amounts breathed in as fumes or accidentally swallowed can cause blindness, severe liver damage, and death.

Ethanol is an alcohol fuel made from the sugars found in grains, such as corn, sorghum, and wheat, as well as potato skins, rice, sugar cane, sugar beets, and yard clippings. Scientists are working on cheaper ways to make ethanol by using all parts of plants and trees. Farmers are experimenting with "woody crops", mostly small poplar trees and switchgrass, to see if they can grow them cheaply and abundantly. Ethanol is a clear, colorless alcohol fuel made from the sugars found in grains, such as corn, sorghum, and wheat, as well as potato skins, rice, and yard clippings. Ethanol is a renewable fuel because it is made from plants. There are several ways to make ethanol from biomass. The most commonly used processes today use yeast to ferment the sugars and starch in corn.

Sugar cane and sugar beets are the most common ingredients for ethanol in other parts of the world. Since alcohol is created by fermenting sugar, sugar crops are the easiest ingredients to convert into alcohol. Brazil, the country with the world's largest ethanol production, makes most of its ethanol this way. Today, many cars in Brazil operate on ethanol made from sugar cane.

A new experimental process which breaks down cellulose in woody fibers, is called "cellulosic ethanol". With this process we can make ethanol from trees, grasses, and crop wastes. Trees and grasses need less energy than grains, which must be replanted every year. Scientists have developed fast-growing trees that grow to size in ten years. Many grasses can produce two harvests a year for many years. Someday, you may find yourself driving by huge farms that are not producing food or animal feed, but feedstock for ethanol. Feedstock is the raw material used to make a product.

Ethanol is a high octane fuel and has replaced lead as an octane enhancer in petrol. With an octane rating of 129, compared to about 91 for fossil-petrol, engines fired on ethanol can run at a much higher compression ratio without the octane-boosting additives. Bioethanol-blended fuel burns more completely because the ethanol molecule contains oxygen … the result, carbon-dioxide and carbon-monoxide emissions can be reduced by nearly 90% as compared to engines run exclusively on fossil-fuels. Vehicle engines require no modifications to run on 10 % blends of bioethanol (E10) nor are vehicle warranties affected either. Flexible fuel vehicles can run on 85% ethanol and 15% petrol blends (E85).