Ethanol from Corn

Ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, is defined as "an alcohol obtained from the fermentation of sugars and starches or by chemical synthesis" (Ethanol 1). Ethanol is the "intoxicating" ingredient in alcoholic drinks and is also used as a "solvent, in explosives, and as an additive to or replacement for petroleum-based fuels" (Ethanol 1). Ethanol has been used for thousands of years by human beings as an intoxicant in beverages. One history notes that "dried residues" discovered on 9000 year-old pottery in Northern China implies "the use of alcoholic beverages even among Neolithic peoples (History 1). Absolute alcohol, containing less than 1% water, was first obtained by 1796 by Johann Tobias Lowitz, who filtered ethanol through charcoal (History 1).

In the eighteenth century, Antoine Lavoisier characterized ethanol as a compound consisting of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, but its chemical formula was not discovered until the early nineteenth century by Nicolas Theodore de Saussure. Ethanol was not prepared synthetically until 1826, when both a Briton, Henry Hennei, and a Frenchman, S. G. Serullas, did so independently (History 1). Michael Faraday's experiments on ethanol resulted in a process quite similar to industrial ethanol synthesis in modern times. The capability to use ethanol as a fuel has existed in the U.S. since the time of the Ford Model T, a vehicle that could "be modified to run on either gasoline or pure alcohol" (His

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levels of food insecurity. Since many Americans or Europeans can afford to spend more on calories for their cars than people can for their stomachs in poor nations, Muller et al. (8) warn that "biofuel demand from wealthy countries can create serious global market distortions." While commodity prices will be higher, Muller et al. explain that this may actually increase food security because it will undermine the harmful practice known as agricultural dumping. Domestically, the demand for ethanol for fuel in the U.S. is steadily increasing. Ethanol production in the United States grew from 375 million gallons in 1980 to 1.4 billion gallons in 1998, largely with the support of Federal and State ethanol tax subsidies and mandated use of "high-oxygen" gasoline (History 1). Because of less available supply on the market, the price of corn increases for U.S. consumers along with all of the other foodstuffs that have corn or corn products as an ingredient. Increased concerns over rising grocery bills and an economic recession make Americans wary of adopting policies that seem to exacerbate the problem. Muller et al. (1) maintains that because of the "farm value" consideration, Americans spend only 19 percent of every doll

Category: Science - E