Ethanol was linked to ozone pollution more than other pollutants read more at here www.spinonews.com/index.php/item/1208-ethanol-was-linked-to-ozone-pollution-more-than-other-pollutants

While some regard ethanol’s as a cleaner, safer and more environmentally friendly bio-fuel than gasoline, critics say its effect is as bad or even worse for nature than regular oil.

New research surprise to scientists when they discovered that drivers using ethanol in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was linked to more ozone in the local environment.

The study is the first large-scale effort to measure how switching between ethanol and petrol affects air pollution. It arrives amid a debate in the United States and other industrialized countries over the environmental benefits of ethanol, a renewable fuel made from plant matter.

Franz Geiger, a professor of chemistry at Northwestern University, said, Ozone and nitric oxide are both contributors to urban smog, so depending on how well a city is able to mitigate air pollution, ethanol may not be the 'green fuel'.

Iowa is the lead producer of ethanol in the U.S., supplying nearly 30 percent of all bio-fuel, which is made primarily from corn containing octane and oxygen. Global ethanol production reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 100 million metric tons last year, which is equivalent to removing 20.2 million vehicles off the road.

With nearly 40 percent of U.S. corn cultivation going toward ethanol production, food prices have increased significantly, leaving some questioning whether or not using food for fuel is the best solution.

Researchers suggest that the reason ozone concentrations worsened after ethanol use rose in Sao Paulo could be because burning gasoline creates more nitrogen dioxide emissions.

 

An expert at the Renewable Fuels Association, said, the Sao Paulo results were not applicable to the U.S. because vehicles in America to comply with different emissions control requirements that are more "stringent" than in Brazil.