The Pros and Cons of Ethanol

The pros and cons of ethanol was never much of a topic for conversation when the first car, the Model T, came out, but the growing need for a greener environment and a more sustainable source to fuel our transportation needs has made the topic altogether relevant over the more recent years, now more than ever. The U.S. possesses the world's greatest transportation needs with an estimated 300 million registered drivers, according to recent surveys. Although the economy and high gas prices have slowed some drivers down, the U.S. remains as the country which still houses some of the largest car manufacturers in the world. With such a heavy burden to produce transportation, especially in bigger cities, and not enough resources to fuel these machines, the pros and cons of ethanol has become more and more of a hot topic.

There exist many pros to ethanol, many of which center around its eco-friendliness. In particular, the use of ethanol has been proven to reduce pollution in the air. The fuel emitted into the atmosphere is substantially less than that of gasoline. People who use ethanol would have very little trouble passing smog checks at their local DMV. In addition to environmental factors, ethanol is domestic good that comes from agriculture. This means that the U.S. does not have to work with other countries as much in order to obtain the needed fuel source. Although the energy that goes into making ethanol is greater than that of gasoline, the results outweigh gasoline in the end. Researchers say that the creation of ethanol will only advance in terms of the process to make it and the greenhouse emissions that will come from it.

Ethanol will also play a role in changing gasoline prices, as it becomes more conventional for gas stations to carry ethanol. For now, gas prices do not seem to be affected by ethanol as much as outside factors, but as people move towards more eco-friendly automobiles, that could very well change prices in the near future. There also exist downsides, like with every good thing, to the use of ethanol. Even though it is proven to be environmentally safer, ethanol is not only a lower form of energy than fuel, it can also be more expensive (depending on location) to fill up the car. On average, it takes 1.5 gallons of ethanol to equal the output of one gallon of gasoline. In addition, the cost to make ethanol from our agriculture is much higher.

Drivers with ethanol in their tank will not receive as much distance as with gasoline. That is, if you have 20 gallons of gasoline compared to 20 gallons of ethanol, the car with gasoline is more likely to travel further. Although ethanol may be cheaper in some locations, namely the Midwest, where ethanol is more abundant, it will cost drivers more if they are heading to the gas pump more frequently. And ethanol may be easier on greenhouse emissions, but more ethanol is used than gasoline to get from place to place, so there is more fuel being burned at the same time.

Earlier in June 2011, the Senate voted to end the tax break incentive for people, which could have some effects on the use of ethanol. The number of eco-friendly cars, however, will only increase with the years, which should make for an interesting end result.