ABSTRACT
In the midst of the current national debate over America's energy needs, the issue of "power alcohol" or alcohol used in the internal combustion engine either by itself or in a blend with gasoline, has again raised its head. Proponents have suggested the use of two types of alcohol for motor fuels. Methanol (wood alcohol) is obtained either from the distillation of wood products or by synthesis from carbon monoxide and hydrogen. Ethanol (grain alcohol) is derived by the age-old process of fermentation of plant materials such as corn, wheat, sorghum, or sugar cane, or by synthesis from ethylene gas [1]. Thus, part of the complexity of today's debate involves argument over methanol versus ethanol as well as the technical, economic, and political issues related to the uses of alcohol as motor fuel.
