What is Ethanol?

Ethanol, a substance that is also called ethyl alcohol, is the critical component in most alcoholic beverages. The substance also is used in fuels such as gasoline. Ethanol is processed in large chemical plants by distilling compounds found in soy beans, corn and sugar. The compounds a ground and then converted into liquid form in order to form the alcohol.

The history of ethanol goes back for a multitude of millennia, as far as 9,000 years ago. Because the substance is so common in history and throughout the world, ethanol has a history in just about every culture.

In addition to being a popular beverage or beverage additive, ethanol is used around the world as a fuel or an additive in fuel. Ethanol is known as a clean-burning fuel because it is entirely derived from plants. While many countries do not have automobiles that run entirely on ethanol just yet, many cities have begun converting their buses and other forms of public transportation to ethanol-burning vehicles.

One country, Brazil, is known for providing the highest level of ethanol fuel. All of the fuel that is sold in the country of Brazil contains at least one fifth ethanol - which is more than any other nation.

Ethanol is very easy to create and leaves behind very little pollution, making it a very popular fuel source for environmentalist and those that live in cities. Ethanol can be made in many ways, but one of the more popular methods is by fermenting sugar, which can be done in a relatively small manufacturing plants.

However, because ethanol relies upon plants, the amount of ethanol that can be made per square acre is relatively little. When compared to the common fuel known as gasoline, millions upon millions of acres of farm land would need to be set aside in order to have the materials supply in order to actually replace gasoline in vehicles.