Is ethanol carbon neutral or not?

Answer 1

No Ethanol is not carbon neutral as I am about to show you

Photosynthesis: 6H2O + 6CO2 => C6H12O6 + 6O2

Fermentation: C6H12O6 => 2C2H5OH + 2CO2

Combustion: 2C2H5OH + 6O2 => 4CO2 + 6H2O

by looking at this it would appear that Ethanol is carbon neutral because Photosynthesis uses 6CO2 per mole of glucose, fermentation and Combustion produce 2CO2 and 4CO2 making 6CO2 per mole of glucose but what makes ethanol not carbon neutral is that you have to burn fuel to grow and harvest the crops for fermentation, fermentation requires heat for the reaction to take place, heat comes from energy and energy comes from fossil fuels.

----====----

Only industrial scale ethanol fermentation requires additional heat. Fermentation is a biological process, in which yeast consuming sugars generates alcohol and heat. Small scale ethanol production with hand picked feedstock, is indeed Carbon Neutral.

Answer 2

Ethanol is considered to be carbon neutral when derived from sustainable sources such as corn, sugar cane, or cellulosic biomass. These sources absorb carbon dioxide during their growth, offsetting the emissions released when the ethanol is burned. However, ethanol derived from fossil fuels like natural gas or coal is not carbon neutral.