Ethanol emissions more harmful?

Ethanol-based fuel may not be the panacea it's being made out to be, according to a new study conducted in the US by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The study's findings suggest that emissions from vehicles running on 85 per cent ethanol-based fuel are just as harmful to human lungs as those from vehicles that run on regular unleaded petrol.

For those not in the know, E85 ethanol is fuel that contains a mixture of up to 85 per cent ethanol and 15 per cent petrol. Ethanol is obtained from crops such as corn and sugarcane and is thus renewable (unlike fossil fuels). It was also thought to be cleaner burning than petrol.

In the US, President George W Bush, biofuels industry groups and the American Lung Association have promoted ethanol as being beneficial to public health.

However, the new study, published in the American Chemical Society's Environmental Science and Technology magazine, indicates the number of deaths caused by E85 emissions could be equal to or greater than those caused by petroleum-based fuel.

"It's true that ethanol does decrease some pollutants, but it also increases some others," said Stanford University Associate Professor Mark Jacobson, who directed the study.

Jacobson goes on to say that switching to E85 could result in higher ozone-related mortality, hospitalisation, and asthma.

If, indeed, the study's findings are accurate, it's bad news for US manufacturers such as Ford and Chrysler, as they have invested heavily in developing E85-compatible cars.

The study doesn't as yet have major ramifications for Australia, as the use of ethanol is not widespread, and even where it is, it's only in ratios of 10 per cent or less.

However, scientist Tim Flannery -- the 2007 Australian of the Year -- recently called for a decreased national dependence on fossil fuels by adopting biofuels such as ethanol.

Speaking in the lead-up to an ethanol industry conference in Melbourne, Dr Flannery pointed to biofuel use as one of the cheapest methods to minimise the onset of global warming.

"We need targets in this country. A good aspirational goal would be to stop importing fossil fuels by 2020," he was quoted as saying in The Australian.

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