Ethanol and human health

US scientists have warned tat ethanol vehicles may have worse effects on human health than conventional petrol.

Mark Jacobson, an atmospheric scientist at Stanford University in California, used a computer model which took into account factors such as temperatures, sunlight, clouds and rain to simulate air quality in 2020 for two different scenarios.

The computer model found that in some areas ozone levels would increase if all cars were run on bioethanol. This is a great concern as deaths from respiratory problems and asthma attacks would increase with such levels.

The EU has agreed that biofuels should be used in 10% of transport by 2020.

"We found that using E85 will cause at least as much health damage as gasoline, which already causes about 10,000 premature deaths annually from ozone and particulate matter," said Jacobson.

"The question is, if we're not getting any health benefits, then why continue to promote ethanol and other biofuels."