What is ethanol?
Ethanol is “ethyl alcohol”, 200-proof grain alcohol, produced mainly from corn but it can also be made from many other crops including wheat, barley, sorghum, potatoes, etc. An ethanol plant produces fuel-grade ethanol, and that ethanol is then blended in a percentage with gasoline to make a finished motor fuel. Terminology is important because the term “ethanol” means different things to different people: “Ethanol” is the 100% pure ethanol coming from a production facility. Sometimes people say “ethanol” and mean the blend of 10% ethanol/90% gasoline called E10. Sometimes people say “ethanol” and mean the blend of 85% ethanol/15% gasoline called E85. All vehicles are “ethanol-capable” and can use a blend of up to 10% alcohol. There is a significant reduction in both carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon tailpipe emissions when ethanol is blended and used with gasoline in automobiles. According to the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, ethanol-blended fuels reduced CO²-equiv
Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is the same liquid alcohol found in beer and wine. It can be produced from any biological feedstock (e.g. cereal grain) that contains sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar, such as starch. Fuel-grade ethanol is anhydrous (i.e. 100% ethanol with virtually no water) and rendered unfit for human consumption (“denatured”) through the addition of gasoline. In Canada, fuel-grade ethanol is currently produced primarily from grains such as corn and wheat in a process similar to fermenting beer and distilling it to concentrate the ethanol. Ethanol can also be produced from cellulose materials such as agricultural and wood wastes, and fast-growing trees and grasses, although cellulosic ethanol technologies are still being developed and are not yet cost-competitive with conventional production processes.
Ethanol is ethyl alcohol, the alcohol contained in beverages. It has many medical, consumer, and industrial applications. Chemically, it consists of two carbon atoms, five hydrogen atoms, and one hydroxyl group. As opposed to gasoline, ethanol is a pure substance consisting of only one type of molecule: C2H5OH. Ethanol is commonly produced in a hydrous (containing water) and an anhydrous (dry) form. The water content of anhydrous ethanol is approximately 0.5 percent by volume, while hydrous ethanol, the ethanol sold at fuel stations is roughly 5 percent water by volume. In the industrial production of ethanol, the hydrous grade is the one that comes directly from the distillation tower. Producing anhydrous ethanol requires an additional processing stage that removes most of the water contained in the fuel.
