Earth & Sky

Ethanol may create worse smog than gasoline

Ethanol is touted as a green fuel at the pump, but it may create worse smog than gasoline, according to a study by Stanford University professor Mark Jacobson.

Mark Jacobson: It’s been advertised that ethanol is improving health and reducing urban air pollution, and this simply has not been shown or demonstrated.

In the study, Jacobson asked what would happen if all vehicles in the United States were converted to run on a blend of ethanol – called E85 – by the year 2020.

Jacobson found that ethanol increases ground-level ozone, especially in Los Angeles and the northeastern U.S. On the ground, ozone aggravates people’s lungs and causes respiratory problems, like asthma.

The model predicts this ozone will increase pollution-related deaths by about 200 per year. That’s 200 more than the 10,000 deaths per year that can be traced to ozone pollution from gasoline, according to Jacobson.

It’s not a dramatic increase, he said, but it’s significant because it shows there’s not much difference between gasoline and ethanol.

Mark Jacobson: The issue is, well, is there something better we can do? And there things that are much better, that could also reduce foreign oil and also help farmers, solve climate problems and air pollution problems simultaneously.

Jacobson recommends moving away from combustion powered cars and towards battery-electric vehicles that can run on wind and solar energy.

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1 Comments for Ethanol may create worse smog than gasoline

1. 1

   Oct 16, 06:41 PM #

   Jackie says:

   Many years ago I visited Rio de Janeiro. Brazilians have used ethanol for decades. One thing I have to say is that ethanol seemed odorless and transparent. After listening to Professor Jacobson, now I’m thinking that a gas that pollutes, but cannot be seen or smelled, would be much more dangerous than smoggy gases. Kind of disturbing, really.