www.sacbee.com/110/story/162586.html A little math background necessary but an interesting take on fueling our bricks and the 'system cost' of C2-H5-OH. Remembering my organic chemistry a bit, the energy from burning hydrocarbons comes from breaking the C-H bonds. The larger the number of C-H bonds the higher the potentential energy available in the hydrocarbon. Alcohol burns to CO2 and H2O. For the enterprising, the amount of available energy in a mole of ethanol is left as an excercise for the bog. You can't win You can't break even You can't get out of the game -- Everyman's laws of thermodynamics. |
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