|
In countries like Brazil Ethanol blended with petrol is used as a fuel. USA has also initiated steps to produce and market such fuels in a bid to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. The Ethanol produced in distilleries is a time consuming process and it has a tendency to absorb water when stored in the fuel tank reducing its calorific value (energy content). Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, US have developed a process which eradicates these disadvantages. Carboydrates present in apples, pears, berries, melons, some root vegetables, cereals, grasses and trees are acted upon by enzymes to produce fructose (an intermediate). The fructose reacts with an acid and the Oxygen is removed as water. A second catalyst and Hydrogen are then added to remove more Oxygen and produce 2,5 dimethyl furan (a fuel). The disadvantage of this fuel is that it uses food as a raw material whereas originally bio-fuels were meant to be produced from agricultural residues. Consequently, the price of Corn, a raw material for Ethanol production, in the US has shot up from US $ 4 / mmbtu in 2006 to US $ 13 / mmbtu in 2007 owing to high demand. The cost of Crude Oil in early - mid 2007 was US $ 12 / mmbtu. These developments are expected to push up the food prices further in future. The only salvation appears to be in a global cooling off of crude oil prices causing governments to re-think their policy on bio fuels which at present and in the near future seems remote. This data and information has been gathered from the weekly Economist magazine published in July 2007.
|
