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by large grain plants in Illinois. Each bushel of corn processed
yields 2-1/2 gallons of ethanol and several valuable byproducts. When used as an automobile fuel, one unit of ethanol is usually mixed with nine of gasoline to provide what is often referred to as an ElO blend.
HISTORY
Ethanol has been known and used throughout history, moving from use as an intoxicating drink in ancient times to an important chemical for transportation and industry in this century. At
the time of Edwin Drake's discovery of oil in Pennsylvania in 1859, sales of alcohol for lamp fuel exceeded 25 million gallons per year. A heavy tax on ethanol during the Civil War almost destroyed the industry in
the United States. In Europe, where crude oil resources were scarce, alcohol was widely used as a fuel well into the 1900s. When the federal tax was removed in 1906, alcohol fuel again did well until attack and
price competition from big oil interests greatly reduced its use.
Some early automobiles, such as Henry Ford's Model T, were originally designed to run on alcohol fuels and during the early and mid-1900s
several attempts were made to promote ethanol as a substitute for gasoline. Low oil prices after World War II (often as low as $3 per barrel) caused interest in fuel ethanol to dwindle until the oil crisis of the
1970s.
In 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) increased oil prices and even blocked shipments of crude oil to the United States. This alerted our country to its dependence on
foreign oil and its vulnerability to sudden price increases and supply shocks. Attention was once again focused on corn ethanol and other alternative fuels. The federal and some state governments have provided
incentives similar to tax breaks offered to the oil industry to encourage ethanol production for use as part of America's liquid fuel supply.
WHY IS THERE INCREASED INTEREST IN ETHANOL NOW?
Despite efforts by the oil industry to discourage its use, low oil prices on the world market, and some who believe that it damages fuel systems, ethanol production and use as a fuel increased at an astonishing rate
during the 1980s. Figures provided by the Illinois Corn Growers Association show use of ethanol as a fuel increased from 40 million gallons in 1980 to 430 million gallons in 1984 to one billion gallons in 1992. One
gallon of ethanol is usually mixed with 9 gallons of gasoline to make ten gallons of the 10 percent ethanol/gasoline blend (El0). Therefore, ten times as many gallons of E10 blend are used as the amount of fuel
ethanol produced.
This rapid growth in the use of the El0 blend is accounted for because the fuel performs well in automobile engines and is priced competitively with "straight" gasoline.
Ethanol proponents set forth additional reasons for more ethanol to be produced and used, especially in the Midwest:
It is in our state and national interest. Less oil needs to be imported, trade deficits are
reduced, and the risk of having needed oil supplies cut off by unfriendly governments are reduced.
Illinois farmers gain because of increased stability in the price and demand for corn.
Environmental quality
improves. Carbon monoxide emissions from autos are reduced and lead and other carcinogens (cancer causing substances) are replaced as octane enhancers in gasoline.
Motorists gain increased octane in gasoline,
reduced engine knock, cleaner engines, and a new source of liquid fuel.
Those who doubt or challenge the use of ethanol as a fuel and oppose these incentives argue that:
It is inappropriate to burn a food
grain as a fuel when one considers worldwide food conditions.
Ethanol should compete equally with gasoline and not receive favorable treatment or more incentives than other fuels.
Ethanol damages fuel system
components in some vehicles and causes operational problems such as vapor lock in hot weather.
Ethanol use does little to reduce oil imports or improve environmental quality.
Waiving portions of the motor
fuel taxes for ethanol blend users reduces monies available for highway construction and repairs.
Use of this fastback should help to provide teachers and students with the background needed to understand the
production and use of ethanol and decide which of these claims and counter claims are valid. They can then arrive at their own conclusions about whether or not to use ethanol in their own vehicles and whether it is
in the national interest to encourage its use as a fuel.
ELSEWHERE
In other countries, ethanol is being produced and used in large quantities as a fuel for automobiles. As a result of the
world-wide increases in oil prices in the l970s, Brazil initiated a program to produce major quantities of ethanol for use in automobiles in order to reduce its petroleum imports. Visitors to Brazil report that
filling stations provide pure or neat alcohol or a blend of gasolines containing as much as 22 percent ethanol. Brazil currently exports large quantities of ethanol, much of which is made from sugar cane grown on
land once covered by rain forests.
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