Ethanol And Alcohol Basically The Same

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The difference between ethanol and alcohol as a motor vehicle fuel is determined by whether the alcohol is going to be blended with gasoline or used as a fuel in its pure form. When alcohol is initially processed, it is used in several applications, typically in the alcoholic beverage market, but in its denatured form has several medical and industrial applications.

Alcohol is used in some race cars to supply speed and power, however those vehicle engines have been modified to burn straight alcohol, something a stick vehicle cannot do, due to performance restrictions. For all intents and purposes, ethanol and alcohol is basically the same thing. It is also commonly referred to as grain alcohol, the same product commonly made in homemade stills.

It is a highly flammable, slightly toxic clear liquid that when properly distilled is used as alcohol in beverages. In that form ethanol and alcohol is highly taxed and tightly controlled. Once it is rendered unfit for human consumption through a denaturing process, it has little regulatory control and no taxation, including the 52 cents a gallon federal tax, which is placed on gasoline.

Hotter Burning Fuels Requires Adjustments

In order to use ethanol and alcohol in its pure form as a vehicle fuel, some adjustments are required, specifically in the carburetion of the engine. The air-fuel mixture will have to be adjusted along with the size of the main jets and intake. Without these adjustments, the higher octane of ethanol and alcohol will ruin a car’s engine.

Currently, refiners are mixing 10 percent ethanol with gasoline to provide a cleaner emission from vehicles along with, hopefully in the future, an alternative to non-renewable fuel sources. Brazil already fills about 25 percent of its fuel needs with sugar-based ethanol and even with its hefty import duty, sells for just over $1 a gallon in New York state.

In the United States, corn is the main ingredient in biofuel production and the price does vary based on corn prices, but overall all the price of production is coming down to make it more cost-effective. Production is also rising, which is playing a role in the lowered cost of ethanol and alcohol, as until recently there were few gas stations providing E-10 gasoline and domestic use was basically flat. The increased production raised the supply levels, resulting in lowered costs. While demand is expected to increase, the addition of refining capacity should keep supply levels high and continue to make refining ethanol for fuel use more economical.