Making Ethanol

Ethanol can either be produced by:

• the fermentation of plant sugars
• the reaction of ethene with steam

The reaction of ethene with steam can be shown in the following equations:

Ethene	+	Steam	→	Ethanol
	+		→
C2H4	+	H2O	→	C2H5OH

Ethene is made by the of long chains from .

Ethanol is a good fuel (See Future Fuels from C1a) and so production is likely to increase in the future. The relative advantages and disadvantages of each production method can be summarised as follows:

Method	Advantages	Disadvantages
Plant Sugar Fermentation	Will not run out Carbon when burnt	Labour intensive, due to farming and then processing
Ethene and Steam	Simple add on process at oil refinery	Will run out Increases Carbon in atmosphere