Ethanol is hot in Illinois. Fully one-sixth of the corn grown in Illinois currently goes to ethanol production, we lag only Iowa in that endeavor, and it’s boom time here, compliments of incentives and a phase-out of another gasoline additive.
Ethanol is an alcohol made from renewable resources such as corn and other cereal grains, food and other beverage wastes and forestry by-products. Ethanol-blended fuel substantially reduces carbon monoxide and volatile organic compound emissions, which are precursors to ozone. The corn-based substance is added to gasoline blends to meet oxygenate level requirements mandated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments and to raise the octane level.
Other crops can be turned into ethanol, but corn is processed most efficiently. Although plenty of controversy exists over whether the production of ethanol takes more energy to make than what you can get out of it (which may also be true of gasoline) it is clearly a more than ample substitute for the banned gasoline additive MTBE, which aids air quality but has been found to contaminate the water supply. Ethanol biodegrades quickly in water and is also air-friendly. Read the rest of this entry