What are Some Problems with Ethanol?
A popular argument against ethanol is that it is not Net Energy Positive. However, many recent studies show ethanol to have a positive energy balance. This means in considering the life cycle of ethanol, including byproducts from its production, more energy is contained in ethanol than is used to produce it. Depending on the production system used for growing and producing ethanol, the energy return presently can vary from 1.24:1 to 2.09:1. Ethanol needs to absorb a certain amount of heat to be effectively vaporized for use in an engine. Once an engine has reached the operating temperature, this vaporization occurs as required. However, there are performance issues with cold weather starting. FFV produced for the North American market incorporate various technologies to improve the cold-start performance using ethanol. Gasoline engines retrofitted to use ethanol would require additional modifications to be cold weather reliable. This might include an in-line fuel heater or other pre-he
