While ethanol fuels have proved to be ‘greener’ than other fossil fuels, it is not widely produced due to its limited usage. The following are some of the main issues faced:

Ethanol Energy Security

Energy Security is defined as “the uninterrupted availability of energy sources at an affordable price”. This energy can be used for a variety of things, from transportation and heating to the generation of electricity. Unfortunately, conventional ethanol is still mostly produced from petroleum. Due to the limited availability of land and depletion of natural resources in Singapore, the cultivation of biofuel is difficult. The transportation of ethanol presents even greater challenges. Ethanol is a volatile liquid which has a boiling point of 78°C, requiring specially designed tanks for its transportation, further increasing transportation costs. As the ethanol energy security is increasingly higher, a long-term solution is needed to tackle this issue.

Fuel Economy

Ethanol produces approximately 34% less energy per unit volume than gasoline. Therefore, burning pure ethanol in a vehicle reduces miles per US gallon by 34%, given the same fuel economy, as compared to burning pure gasoline. There are two ways to solve this issue: either the tank capacity of vehicles are increased, or the efficiency of ethanol fuel must be improved upon.

The frequency of refueling ethanol fuel is three times that of gasoline if tank capacities remained unchanged. This might not pose a large threat to Singapore as Singapore is a small country and there are many available places to refuel. A more holistic solution has to be considered in order for ethanol fuel to be commercialized in bigger countries such as UK and USA.

Infrastructure challenges

Due to the corrosive nature of ethanol, the cost of transportation will be very high. Ethanol absorbs water and cannot be transported through pipelines that are currently used to transport gasoline. Water can separate and cause pipelines and fuel lines to freeze and even burst in cold weather.

Furthermore, ethanol corrodes soft metals, and contaminants from corrosion can damage car engines. In order to use more than 5% – 10% ethanol blended with gasoline, Singapore has to build a new generation of vehicles to utilise it. This is in addition to the building of necessary storage tanks and pipelines. Singapore requires more resources and technology to overcome the limitations of using ethanol in Singapore.

Hence, increasing the use of ethanol means we have to consume more natural resources.

Health impact

Ethanol is more volatile than gasoline and long-term exposure to ethanol vapour causes health problems as stated in the Material Safety Data Sheet of ethanol (may cause central nervous system effects characterised by nausea, headache, dizziness, unconsciousness and coma). Workers at ethanol manufacturing plants without the right safety knowledge and the right Personal Protection Equipment, risk the inhalation of ethanol vapour. This may be more common in developing countries. Customers at petrol kiosk may also be exposed to this risk if they stay at stations for too long.

Life cycle analysis

Competition of land use

If all the cars in America were fueled with 100 percent ethanol from corn, it would require 97 percent of the 1.9 billion acres of land in the United States to grow the feedstock, according to Cornell University scientist David Pimentel. More land has to be allocated and diverted towards the production of ethanol when it can be used for other purpose like housing or production of food for human consumption. It is clearly obvious to us that it is impossible to completely replace fossil fuel with just ethanol.

Greenhouse gas emission during production

Greenhouse emission for usage of ethanol as fuel should also take into consideration those emitted during the production of ethanol. Although some sources says that ethanol blended fuels can significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emission over their entire life cycle from production through to use in the vehicle, according to a study conducted at University of Edinburgh, it showed that ethanol actually produces substantially more greenhouse gas.

References:

Inhaling Alcohol Is Dangerous. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from http://www.poison.org/articles/2013-sep/inhaling-alcohol-is-dangerous
The Environmental Costs of Ethanol. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from http://www.ncpa.org/pub/ba591
Ethanol and emission reductions. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from http://biofuelsassociation.com.au/biofuels/ethanol/effect-of-ethanol-on-emissions/
Ethanol Produces More Greenhouse Gas than Fossil Fuels. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from https://www.ff.org/ethanol-produces-more-greenhouse-gas-than-fossil-fuels/
Direct Port W/I Kit??? Aquamist. (n.d.). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from http://www.evolutionm.net/forums/water-methanol-injection-nitrous-oxide/511776-direct-port-w-i-kit-aquamist.html

http://www.nafaa.org/ethanol.pdf