Quote:
Originally Posted by nibs
Help me out here, alcohol is a very clean burning fuel, it is a renewable resource. Are folks trying get the maximum miles per gallon, or the minimum pollution per mile?
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I do not agree with the above statement using Ethanol in places with low population densities and has a local source is ok but it is not "clean".
Here is why:
"Mark Jacobson of Stanford University in California modelled emissions for cars expected to be on the road in 2020. The model assumed that carbon emissions would be 60 per cent less than 2002 levels, so overall deaths would be halved. However, an E85-fuelled fleet would cause 185 more pollution-related deaths per year than a petrol one across the US, most of them in Los Angeles.
The findings, to be published in Environmental Science & Technology, run counter to the idea that ethanol is a cleaner-burning fuel. While ethanol-burning cars will emit fewer carcinogens such as benzene and butadiene, they will spew out 20 times as much acetaldehyde as those using conventional fuel. Acetaldehyde can react with sunlight to form ozone, one of the main constituents of smog, and so increase the risks to people's health."
Biofuel's dirty little secret - environment - 21 April 2007 - New Scientist