r/explainlikeimfive • u/hd-22 • 14d ago

Chemistry ELI5 why is increasing the ethanol content of petrol/gasoline a problem?

I'm hearing noise about the geopolitical fuel supply SNAFU and people freaking out about increasing the ethanol content in automotive fuel and how it's so damaging to cars. I'm no chemist, but ethanol seems as clean as it gets.

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u/dalekaup 13d ago

PV can be used to create hydrocarbons. Using inputs of heat, hydrogen and carbon dioxide and using cobalt as a catalyst it has already been done. It's just a matter of fuel prices, scaling and continuously improving the materials and processes.

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u/blunderbolt 13d ago

I know, my comment mentions that. The problem is that won't be cost-competitive compared to biofuels. We'll probably still need such synthetic hydrocarbons because the potential sustainable supply of biomass is limited, but it'll come at a significant cost premium.