D.+Watkins+wiki+reaction

Ethanol is a colorless chemical compound that is often found in alcoholic beverages. It is a liquid but can be made into a gas through combustion.
 * What is Ethanol? **

This is the Chemical Structure of Ethanol

The reaction for //Synthesis of Ethanol// is combustion. The ethanol is all burned and the remnants of it are burned into the atmosphere as a green house gas. The equation for this reaction is: CH_3OH + 2CO + H_2  è CH_3CH_2OH + CO_2
 * What is the reaction? **

There are many major producers of ethanol. But the most common one I found on the internet during my research was a company called Coskata, based out of a suburb of Chicago. This is an extremely young company that was founded in 2006. It is also a rapidly fast growing company. It has picked up two major partners that will bring both superior advertisement than Coskata had before. These two partners are General Motors and ICM. They are currently creating new ideas for this synthesis. Instead of using corn, they want to try and implant wood chips, switch grass, citrus peels, and feedstock. They feel that this will be a better, less expensive plan with an extremely bigger profit potential. This could be true because corn is a major product in the food industry and is pretty expensive to buy so switching away from it would save a good amount of money. Most Ethanol manufacturers are based in the United States because of the cost to ship the Ethanol. It is extremely expensive to ship this substance so it is much cheaper for the businesses to be based in America and most often the Midwest.
 * Who are the major makers of the chemical? **



There are many key buyers of ethanol because there are two major different uses for it. The first use for it is as a fuel. A less expensive, more environmentally friendly alternative to gasoline. The second popular use for ethanol is in alcoholic beverages. The most common of which is vodka or moonshine. The biggest buyer of this chemical for automobile purposes is General Motors based in Detroit, Michigan. They are trying to find ways to improve their vehicle’s fuel efficiencies as well as come up with a new more money saving system all together. Other major buyers of this chemical are companies in the alcohol business. They include vodka makers such as Skyy, Smirnoff, and Absolut. These companies use the ethanol as a key ingredient in the vodka. Ethanol being such a key ingredient is a big part of their sales success, which is roughly $1.3 billion a year.
 * Who are the major buyers of the chemical? **



The starting materials for the Synthesis of Ethanol are pretty basic. You need a sugar source and yeast. After that step distillation of the Ethanol would be needed. The water would need to be completely separated from the Ethanol substance for it to be a successful production. Though the basic ingredients for the Synthesis of Ethanol are the same, the resources in which different countries use can differ slightly. For Ethanol to be created there will need to be a source of sugar. For this the United States use corn. Though it is expensive it has relatively no waste and is an abundant source. This is not the same case for Brazil. Brazil uses sugar cane because it is extremely bountiful in the South American country. It is very cheap for them and has an easy clean up.
 * What are the starting materials used for the Synthesis of Ethanol? **



Though there is little waste leftover from the creation of Ethanol the waste that does remain burns up in the atmosphere and is recycled to be used in this process again. This reaction greatly benefits the planet. When it as used in collaboration with or in place of gasoline it reduces the green house gasses that are burned up in the O-zone layer. It also reduces the amount of fossil fuels used when it is put in place of gas. This reaction still is ongoing at chemical plants. In fact most of the ethanol plants are currently making patents for new ways to synthesize Ethanol. Over the last ten years or so the production of Ethanol has been revitalized but Ethanol has been around for over 900 years. It was originally found in ancient Chinese pottery. But it was not prepared synthetically until 1826 by a British chemist named Henry Hennel. The Synthesis of Ethanol was talked about during the annual State of the Union Adress given by President Bush last month. His goal was to produce 20% of the nation’s fuel supply from renewable resources by 2017. Much of that coming from the conversion of corn into ethanol, fueled by a boom in new ethanol plant construction that is already under way.  -  In gasoline it comes in two different versions, E10 and E85. E10 is used by 1/3 of all American vehicles everyday and E85 is used in exponentially less amount but still millions of cars.  -  It is produced by fermentation of corn in a process that is greenhouse gas neutral.
 * If there is any waste where does it go? **
 * How does the reaction benefit the planet? **
 * Is the reaction still ongoing at chemical plants? Or was it made illegal? **
 * Synthesis of Ethanol in the News: **
 * Other Facts about Ethanol: **



__ Information __ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/03/04/ap/tech/mainD8NLISJ80.shtml http://synthesis.typepad.com/synthesis/2008/01/ethanol-ferment.html [|http://www.cmt.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/Basic_Science/Publications/Selective _Catalytic_Ethanol_Synthesis.pdf] http://www.che.msstate.edu/academics/faculty_staff/Zappi/consortium/production_of_ethanol_from_synth.htm __ Pictures __ http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/04/20/470_why_corn.jpg http://www.spirituosenworld.de/produkte/wodka/details/skyy_vodka_gr.jpg http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/06/hardees_badthings/image/smirnoff.jpg http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/4/4c/225px-Ethanol_Car.jpg http://images.1aauto.com/models/General_Motors_Logo.jpg
 * References: **