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Ethanol is a carbon-neutral substitute for gasoline, no?

• Schroedingersat 4y ago
  Crop ethanol uses an extremely large amount of land for the energy. US corn ethanol uses about 2 acres to support one car. And this has a large fossil fuel input (possibly with a net carbon output depending on fertilizer use and how it's distilled). For a rough efficiency comparison, if there were some hypothetical 80% efficient solar panel and annual storage wasn't a concern, it could power the car with just the sunlight that hit it.
• fooker 4y ago
  Ethanol can be potentially carbon neutral, given a ton of terms and preconditions.
• coderenegade 4y ago
  It can be, but methanol is produced catalytically, unlike ethanol, which is made via fermentation and competes with crops for arable land. You can make ethanol catalytically as well, but afaik it typically involves making methanol first. Methanol has slightly less energy density, but it has the advantage of burning cleaner than any other fuel (no carbon-carbon bonds, so no soot), and it's easier to crack using waste heat, which is a pathway to more efficient engines (you can boost the LHV of the fuel by around 20% this way).