wer overall emissions and higher energy efficiency than gasoline fueled vehicles, (Reed, 74). Finally, in a bold move by General Motors, in 1992, Chevrolet began taking orders for Chevy Luminas running on 85% methanol, 15% gasoline, (Frame, 1). Methanol has had its drawbacks, which petroleum companies have fought to make known, but as before, many of these drawbacks have found simple solutions with today's technology. The main problems involve aldehyde emissions, cold starting, low energy density, and corrosiveness. Aldehyde emissions, specifically acetaldehyde, occur with the incomplete combustion of alcohol, which is inevitable in an ICE. In high concentrations, this chemical can cause skin and eye irritations along with serious lung damage, as stated again by the CEO of Chevron, Mr. Derr. The chemical also has an offensive odor and harms vegetation. In the U.S., its concentrations may not exceed 360 mg/m3. Acetaldehyde though, is dissimilar to gasoline combustion products in that it cannot remain in the atmosphere long, "it quickly combines with other substances and is rendered inert," (Grammer, 12). Also, a simple catalytic converter can be added to the tail pipe as it already is with gasoline fueled vehicles, eliminating acetaldehyde emissions altogether. This has yet to be done in Brazil. Cold starting is also a drawback to alcohol fuel as alcohol has a higher vaporization temperature than does gasoline, (Grammer, 12), and it has a lower calorific value than does gasoline, (Mazzone, 59). Two solutions have been implemented to solve this problem. Originally the idea was to heat the fuel before combustion when the temperature drops, circa 1980, (Grammer, 12). Two solutions have grown from this hypothesis. The first solution was implemented in Brazil with pure ethanol vehicles which can run on either pure ethanol or pure methanol. "The system squirts a bit of gasoline into the air/fuel mixture to get the engine started. From then on,...
