A student said that the use of ethanol as a fuel is entirely carbon neutral. Evaluate this statement with appropriate equations
Not sure how many marks but oh well, I'll try
Ethanol is a renewable resource which can be made from cellulose. Cellulose is a naturally occuring condensation polymer which makes up about 50% of the earths biomassIt is manufactured by photosynthesis in plants, fermentation then combustion in vehicles. THis means that it's 'carbon neutral':
photosynthesis: 6CO2(g) + 6H2(l)L --> 6O2(g) + C6H12O6(aq)
fermentation: C6H12O6(g) --yeast--> 2C2H5OH(aq) + 2CO2(g)
Combustion: C2H5OH(aq) + 3O2(g) --> 2CO2(g) + 3H2O(g)
The amount of CO2 released in fermentation and combustion is equimolar (not sure of this is the right word) to the CO2 absorbed in photosynthesis
However the energy in harvesting, manufacturing, transporting and disposal of the products generally comes from and gives CO2.
In the fermentation process we also only gain 15% ethanol, meaning more energy is used in the process, creating more CO2
Overall ethanol is not a carbon neutral fuel and therefore is not an energy source effective as a countermeasure to climate change. More research is needed in order to to be used as a alternative fuel source which is entirely carbon neutral.
Anyone willing to correct/add to that go ahead
Outline the changes that have occured in the atmospheric ozone concentrations above Antarctica during the past 20 years and explain how this information was obtained. - 4 marks