The Basic Facts About Ethanol

Ethanol is the most widely used alcohol. It is commonly consumed for its intoxicating effect. It is also used fairly frequently as a fuel. This simple chemical has had huge effects on human society for thousands of years.

Attaching an oxygen hydrogen combo called a hydroxyl to a carbon atom in an organic compound will give you what chemists call an alcohol. There are many substances that fit this description. In ordinary language, the word alcohol almost always means ethanol. It is also called grain alcohol. Another common alcohol is methanol, which has an even simpler structure. It is also called wood alcohol, because it used to be mainly derived from wood.

The use of alcohol goes back before the beginning of history. Fermentation is usually used to make it. This entails adding a microorganism, usually yeast, to a mixture of water, sugar, and other constituents. The microorganism eats the sugar and excretes ethanol.

Juice from grapes is fermented into wine. Various grains are used to make beer. Anything with sugar will work. Since grain has much more starch than sugar, it is either cooked or malted (sprouted) to convert the starch to sugar.

As fermentation proceeds, either the sugar is all used, or the alcohol concentration kills the yeast. Thus fermentation is limited to producing 15% or less alcohol. This can be increased by distilling the product of fermentation.

The distilling process was invented almost a thousand years ago. Ethanol has a lower boiling point than water, so heating the product of fermentation will evaporate more alcohol than water. When the vapor is condensed, it will have an increased alcohol concentration. Very high alcohol levels can be reached with repeated distillation.

More people around the world use ethanol than any other psychoactive substance. It causes depression of the central nervous system. Small amounts bring on relaxation and general good feeling. The next step up can result in poor judgment, impulsive actions, and perhaps the use of violence. Next we may see stupefaction and perhaps a blackout. A high enough dosage will kill. Usage is implicated in a large percentage of automobile accidents resulting in fatalities. Even fairly light usage can cause enough increase in reaction time to be dangerous.

Those who drink moderately or heavily for a period of time run the risk of alcoholism. This creates a combination of physical and psychological dependence. This condition is complicated by the fact that heavy users who suddenly quit can have major problems, including fatal ones.

Heavy drinking eventually leads to medical problems of many different kinds. Oddly, light drinking has the opposite effect, being healthy in a number of ways. The benefits of light drinking need to be balanced with the risk of becoming an alcoholic.

On a different note, ethanol can be a reasonably substitute for gasoline in internal combustion engines. Blending a small percentage with gasoline creates a fuel that can be used in unmodified gasoline engines. With minor modification, these engines can use it straight.

There has been much interest in this substance as a biofuel. Deriving it from corn is controversial, as it impacts food supplies. It is possible that considering the energy requirements for both farming the corn and processing it into a fuel, more fossil fuel may be expended than is replaced. Technology to derive it from cellulose sources such as saw grass is being developed.

Ethanol suppliers are a big player in the human story. As a drug it has both positive and negative attributes. The same goes for its use as a fuel, but here one can expect improvement.