More Considerations About Alcohol - Bioethanol - As Fuel and Freedom
The existence of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security recently came
to my attention. They are a R&D group dedicated to developing alternatives to
fossil fuels.
You can read about the Institute on the following link, if you'd like:
http://www.iags.org/home.htm
The raison d'etre of the Institute is not a subject that is germane here, at
least not directly. However, one of the projects that they are working on is
getting bioethanol from surplus grain harvests, particularly corn. If on the
off chance there is anyone here who is even less knowledgeable about alcohol
than I am, you can read about ethanol on the following link:
http://www.afdc.doe.gov/altfuel/eth_general.html
Of course, most people are familiar with ethanol in a glass. Ethanol is ethyl
alcohol. It is the form of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages.
The fact that ethanol, like all alcohols, is combustible intrigues me. If it is
combustible it can be used as a source of energy. What does that mean? What
does that really mean, on a level far deeper than its chemical composition and
properties? I'm not asking about ethane with an hydroxyl radical and how that
contributes to the combustibility of ethanol here.
There is far less drinking here in Israel than in the West, although in recent
times there has been an increase in recreational drinking. There are no liquor
licenses and no liquor stores, except for fancy-shmancy stores that sell "the
good stuff". The small amount of liquor that a community desires to buy is more
than adequately supplied by what appears on two or three shelves at the
supermarket. 95 percent, not proof, percent, alcohol is sold in supermarkets
for the occasional party where punch is served. I use it as rubbing alcohol.
That brings me to the next property of alcohol that intrigues me: it sterilizes
by killing bacteria. What does *that* mean? What does that really mean?
What are the lessons to be learned from alcohol?
Doreen
posted by Doreen Ellen Bell-Dotan, Tzfat @ 2:19 PM
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