Could Ethanol Cars Be Worse Than Gasoline?
This is what a recent study in the United States thinks may be true. The new study has found that using Ethanol to power cars could actually result in more respiratory illness cases and fatalities. The study says that if all the cars and trucks in the US were changed from gasoline power to ethanol, air pollution would not go down but actually go up by four percent.
The potential increase in health risks could particularly affect those suffering from respiratory conditions such as asthma.
In the report the head writer, Mark Jacobson, who works as a atmospheric scientists at Stanford University, said, "Our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already caused significant health damage." This is a concern as Jacobson also said, "ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution." The results of the study contradict this promotion.
At the moment the current Bush administration is pushing the ethanol option hard. The administration has already told car manufacturers that they need to make at least 50 percent of their cars run on flex fuel by 2012. This means that these cars must be capable of using petrol or ethanol.
To carry out the study a computer simulation was used. This simulation tried to create the conditions of the environment if ethanol was used to fuel cars in the US. The study used the year 2020 for its predictions as if things keep moving in the same direction ethanol fuel will be extremely common.
The findings show that urban areas would be the worst affected particularly Los Angeles. This is because Los Angeles' environment makes that city very prone to smog. The amount of death caused by respiratory conditions in Los Angeles would rise by 9 percent.
The study also pointed out that pollution from ethanol would be much more difficult to deal with than gasoline pollution. This is because ethanol causes an increase in ozone gas. This gas is very corrosive so much so "that is can crack rubber and wear away statues." It is also much harsher on human lungs.
A number of US senators has already submitted a fuel bill that pushes for the increase of alternative fuels in an attempt to lower carbon emission. The bill would "require fuel suppliers to increase the percentage of low-carbon fuels - biodiesal, E85 (ethanol), hydrogen, electricity and others - in the motor vehicle fuel supply."
One of the senators pushing this new bill is Sen. Dian Feinstein of California. She was uncertain about the results of the recent study, saying, "We should proceed with caution. All of these fuels emit certain pollutants, and those pollutants have to be known and evaluated for their health effects. There can be no really rush to judgment about these fuels. We've got to find a way to develop low-carbon fuels that do not have adverse health effects."
Besides pushed for alternative fuels in the US the same is happening in Europe. The EU has expressed its hopes of making at least 10 percent of cars and trucks biofuel powered by 2020.
One place researchers should look is Brazil. Brazil has been using ethanol to fuel its cars in the 70's.
Sources
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/04/18/MNG7EPAN601.DTL
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6563255.stm
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=14&click_id=143&art_id=nw20070418101506358C242512
Published by Siun Griffin
I have been a freelance writer for several years. I enjoy writing about a variety of topics, particularly the environment, animals, entertainment, and travel. However, I don't limit myself to those topics, a... View profile
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1 Comments
Post a CommentSounds a lot like an oil person or anti-get rid of oil dependency person wrote this article. There are a whole bunch of negative people out there and as long as there is so much negative input into alternate fuels, there will be major delays in some of those alternate fuels becoming reality, not to mention the resultant added costs to these alternate fuels. I certainly do not subscribe to anything Dian Feinstein has to say about anything.