Ethanol in the Environment: A Critical Review of Its Roles as a Natural Product, a Biofuel, and a Potential Environmental Pollutant
Authors:
- 15 August 2012
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Taylor & Francis in Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology
- Vol. 42 (16) , 1735-1779
Abstract
Ethanol has long been known as a natural product of fermentation and an important industrial chemical. Recently it has been recognized as a useful biofuel. However, the overview of the global environmental cycle of ethanol in vegetation, wetlands, the ocean and the atmosphere has so far been neglected. Ethanol is a key product of higher plants under oxygen-deficient conditions, and the major cycling of ethanol is within plants and wetlands. Little naturally produced ethanol reaches the atmosphere. With the increasing use of ethanol as a fuel, higher atmospheric concentrations of ethanol will occur, with some detrimental consequences.Keywords
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