To assist students in understanding ethanol as an optional fuel and the technological effects of ethanol as an alternative fuel. The students will learn ethanol's effects as an alternative fuel with respect to vehicle fuel economy, the environment, and technical changes in the vehicle.
Several factors affect the use and selection of any fuel.
Among the important ones are engine design, net energy per pound, net energy per gallon and the sulphur content of alternative fuel properties. Refer to chart below. Measuring a fuel's relative potential energy can easily be done by defining that fuel's Btu content. Ethanol requires few if any engine modifications to extract the maximum power from this fuel. Ethanol is reported to lower tailpipe emissions.