Cowgas Industries

Today, in the year 2032, when someone sees that he or she is low on gas, they simply go to the gas pump and “fill ‘er up.” The car then runs on clean burning, inexpensive fuels. Over the last twenty-five years, the fuel industry has been revolutionized by the price drops in ethanol infused gasoline, but the journey from the American reliance on the volatile Middle East for gasoline that released countless toxins into the air to the now self-sustaining ethanol industry was not a short journey. Starting with the use of leaded petroleum, here is a look at the progress America has made, and the science behind it.
In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Compounds composed entirely of carbon or hydrogen are referred to as "pure" hydrocarbons, whereas other hydrocarbons with bonded compounds or impurities of sulphur or nitrogen are referred to as "impure". Hydrocarbons are referred to as consisting of a skeleton composed entirely of carbon and hydrogen and other bonded compounds, that easily facilitates combustion. Liquid geologically-extracted hydrocarbons are referred to as petroleum. Crude petroleum is a mixture of a very large number of different hydrocarbons. During the refining process, the different hydrocarbons are separated into different products, such as jet fuel, kerosene, and gasoline. After gasoline has been extracted, additives are mixed in to help it burn more efficiently and to help it burn cleaner. Many of the additives are oxygenates, or substances that have been infused with oxygen. These oxygenates are added in order to reduce the amount of carbon monoxide released, but are often ineffective. In the process of burning gasoline, many byproducts aren’t used by the automobile and end up being sent back into the atmosphere. One of these byproducts is carbon monoxide, a toxic gas made up of one carbon atom covalently bonded to one oxygen atom.
Ethanol is an alcohol-based fuel produced... [continues]

Read full essay