by Kevin Wijaya

Created on: December 16, 2008   Last Updated: July 06, 2011

Running our cars, flying our helicopters, cooking our food and much more, modern society cannot deny the importance of fossil fuels. Without it, we would not have the cars we need to go to school and we would not have all the luxuries that we have enjoyed for granted. Unfortunately, the world's fossil fuel supply is finite, which means it can run out. For years, scientists have tried to research possible alternative of a gasoline that is not only eco-friendly, but does not use fossil fuel as much as what we have now. They have come up with a solution to the latter, which is to use a type of fuel called bio-fuel. The main difference between a bio-fuel and fossil fuel are their age. While fossil fuel takes millions of years to be produce, bio-fuel is obtained from recently dead living things. One type of bio-fuel that is going to be discussed in this article is ethanol, which is usually obtained from corn.

Ethanol in corn plants are produced through fermentation of the glucose. From the making of the glucose until it is converted into ethanol fuel, it takes 3 chemical reactions. Firstly, glucose is created in the corn plant by photosynthesis (6CO2(g) + 6H2O(L) + light -> C6H12O6(S) + 6O2(g)). After that, decomposition occurs during the ethanol fermentation which makes the glucose turns into ethanol and carbon dioxide (C6H12O6(s) -> 2C2H6O(L) + 2CO2(g) + heat ). Then, during the combustion, the ethanol reacts with oxygen and turns into carbon dioxide, water and heat which are used to drive the piston in the engine (C2H6O(L) + 3O2(g) -> 2CO2(g) + 3H2O(L) + heat) (Ethanol Fuel, Wikipedia). For ethanol fuels that are used in cars, usually they are mixed with gasoline.

Like in many other things, ethanol combustion has a benefit and limitation. The benefit, of course, is to provide an alternative fuel to the almost depleted source of gasoline. Ethanol fuel use corn that is a renewable source compared to fossil fuels which has a finite supply. But, there are also limitations of this chemical reaction. These limitations could be divided into several aspects, which are economical, political and environmental.

Corn is one of the most popular foods in the world. Using corn as an alternative source of fuel raises an important question; will it affect the global market? From the famous Adam Smith "Wealth of Nation", we have learned about the law of supply and demand in economics. When the demand of corn rises up because it is constantly being use as a fuel, it will

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