The smart driver uses
alcohol only in the tank

DRINKING and driving do not
mix.

But there is a role for alcohol in
the car, not the driver.

Western Canada is already using
alcchol as a blend with gasoline,
sold by Mohawk gasoline stations.
lu. Manitoba generally the blend
consists of 10 per cent ethanol, the
best known alcohol, and 90 per
cent gasoline. In Saskatchewan,
Alberta, and British Columbia
‘EM Unleaded’ fuel will contain
three per cent ethanol, five per
cent methanol and 92 per cent
gasoline.

In the future, as petroleum-
based fuels become more scarce
and expensive, Canada must find
ways to use energy more efficient-
ly. Ethanol is in the forefront of
the hunt for alternative fuels.

Evidence suggests that all civili-
zations throughout recorded time
have fermented fruits, vegetables
and grains to produce liquor,
chemically known as ethanol, for
human consumption.

By 1830 Europeans also began
using it in lamps to replace
malodorous fish and whale oils,
and Henry Ford originally design-
ed the Model T to run on ethanol.
Ironically, he later had to adapt
Ford engines to run on
petroleum-derived gasoline as it
became more plentiful.

In the early part of this century,
many countries encouraged the use
of ethanol for fuel. Brazil, for ex-
ample, has been using alcchol-
blended fuels for almost 60 years.
France developed a mixture of
gasoline and ethanol, which today
is still called gasohol.

Gasohol had a resurgence in
popularity in the United States
during the Depression, and Pro-
hibition led many distillery owners
to look for new markets, since the
local ta\...ns and beer halls could
no longer use their products.

By the end of the Second World
War, however, petroleum-based
fuels were cheap and pientiful.
Gasohol use declined until the
Middle East oil embargo of 1973.
Today researchers continue to look
for viable petroleum alternatives.

Ethanol is one of a series of
organic compounds called
alcohols. Organic compounds con-
tain oxygen, carbon and hydrogen.
Petroleum, one of the hydrecar-
bon compousds, essential! con-
tains only carbon and hydrogen.

Ethanol can be produced in two
ways: by fermentation of sugars
and by hydration of ethylene,
which can be made from compo-
nents in natural gas. Brazil, where
ethanol! motor fuel has achieved
great inroads, produces ethanol
from fermentation of sugar from
its vast sugarcane resources.

The process of fermentation re-
quires living microorganisms,
yeasts and enzymes, to break down
carbohydrates and sugars into car-
bon dioxide and ethanol. At pres-
ent this is a more expensive process
than refining gasoline. As research
continues this may change.

Alcohols resemble gasoline in
many ways, but there are dif-
ferences. In a 10 per cent alcohol
and 90 per cent gasoline blend,
these differences are not major.
But when alcohols are used alone
or pure, soine engine components
must be adjusted or replaced. Neat
alcohols are high-octane fuels and
permit engines of higher power
outputs, to be used. The miuscle
cars of the 50s used very high oc-
tane fuel.

Octane requirements in today’s
gasoline are partly met by using

lead compounds. Alcohol can be
used to reduce the lead require-
ments and thus reduce lead emis-
sions, but alcohols (particularly
methanol) are more corrosive than
gasoline and can cause swelling in
elastomers (rubbers, etc.). This
problem can be resolved by the use
of alcohol compatible materials.
Alcoiiols also have an ecological
advantage over gasoline. They are
not carcinogenic. In the event of a
large spill, alcohols are
biodegradable and will have a
lesser impact than gasoline on the
environment. For the most part,
exhaust emissions are considerably
fower than those of gasoline.

Therefore, air quality should im-
prove with alcohol use.

Some countries are already in-
cluding alcohol blends routinely at
refueling stations.

In Brazil, all gasoline is 20 per
cent ethanol, and two million cars
run on neat ethanol. About five
per cent of the fuel sales in the
United States are blends of
ethanol-gasoline.

Germany, Austria, France and
Italy routinely add up to three per
cent methanol in their gasoline.
Fuel marketed as high-octane in
South Africa is in fact a 10 per
cent alcohol — 90 per cent gasoline

27 - Wednesday, July 16, 1986 - North Shore News

Ti ransporta tion

joving’ Foi

blend.

When the price of fuel at Cana-
dian gas stations rises, the interest
in alternative fuels. becomes
greater. A breakthrough in
technology to convert cellulose to

=

4

sugar could allow economical pro-
duction of ethanol from Canada’s
vast forest resources. As produc-
tion costs are reduced, alcohol
fuels will become an important
part of our energy future.