Bioethanol is a fuel that is obtained from the fermentation of the sugars contained in some vegetables. Chemically it has the same chemical composition of ethyl alcohol, so its characteristics are similar. However, there is something that differentiates them and that is that bioethanol is produced from the processing of biomass and ethyl alcohol from other kinds of resources.
Some of the vegetables used for the production of bioethanol are: sugar cane, beets, corn, sorghum and some cereals such as barley or wheat. Today, bioethanol is the most widely produced biofuel in the world, using any of the aforementioned raw materials.
Countries like Brazil extract bioethanol mainly from sugar cane. And the United States extracts it from corn starch. Both countries are considered the largest producers of this fuel.
The use of bioethanol has been the subject of much debate as some believe that unlike fossil fuels, bioethanol is sustainable and offers long-term economic environmental benefits; while others consider that the extraction of bioethanol has caused great deforestation and an increase in the cost of food.
This biofuel offers a series of advantages, some of them are: it is a renewable fuel source, it reduces dependence on oil, it is a much cleaner source of fuel, easy to produce and reserve. Its use pollutes less environmentally, representing a viable option to the depletion of fossil fuels such as oil or gas.
However, the production of bioethanol can generate certain disadvantages, some of them are: if this fuel is extracted from sugar cane or corn, this would cause serious environmental impacts, its use is limited to low-performance and low-power engines, costs are usually higher as large growing spaces are needed.
This biofuel represents for the world (despite the inconveniences that its production could entail) a resource with a long future, the important thing is to know how to find the balance between its use and its production and the consequences that from the agricultural and economic point of view originate in many countries.
