News of the Week That may be difficult to do. Chang says that they are trying to schedule tests of the process at the highsulfur pilot plant operated by Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) near Buffalo, N.Y. The facility is booked far in advance and it may be 18 months before it will be available. An alternative they also are pursuing would be to test at an operating generating plant. Among the firms cooperating with Chang and Liu is Bechtel National Inc. George Lee, an engineering specialist at Bechtel, believes that the new scrubbing process shows great promise in the early stages of its development and expects vital large-scale tests will begin within six months. He says that up to 90% removal of nitrogen and sulfur oxides may be possible. Although at present the process looks commercially interesting, its future economics will be determined by by-product sales. At current prices,
Lee suggests, the new technology might be quite competitive with existing processes, assuming no technical snags develop. An attractive feature is elimination of the need to dispose of unwanted sludge from the process. Stuart Dalton, a spokesman for EPRI, says the institute still has many questions about the process, particularly concerning its complexity. The most effective technology developed thus far, according to Dalton, is a combination of limestone scrubbing of the sulfurous oxides and catalytic reduction of the NO x . This technology is currently in use in Europe and, to a minor extent, elsewhere. It is also expensive. EPRI is "hopeful but unconvinced" that the new LBL process will be superior to present approaches but is awaiting operational and economic data. Joseph Haggin
ACS to assist in high school science survey More than 7000 chemistry and physics teachers at U.S. high schools will be asked, in the next few months, to fill out a 12-page questionnaire designed to help assess how well high schools are equipped to teach physical science. The survey, consisting of 82 questions, is a joint endeavor of the American Institute of Physics (AIP) and the American Chemical Society. Three years ago, AIP embarked on a long-term plan to survey the nation's high school physics teachers on a regular basis. The results of its first survey were published in 1988. That survey identified several problems that cause about 80% of students to shun physics, making it, according to one teacher, "the orphan of the sciences in high school." ACS joined as a cosponsor of the project after AIP offered last May to include chemistry teachers in its 1989-90 survey and to make the resulting data available to ACS for analysis and reporting on the state of high school chemistry. AIP's aim is to broaden and deepen its understanding of physical science education, says AIP's project director Michael Neuschatz. 6
January 15, 1990 C&EN
A new physics /chemistry questionnaire will be mailed out during the spring semester, he says. The data are expected to be available in the fall. The survey inquires into the teacher's background, education, teaching experience, and responsibilities; characteristics of the school; and physics and chemistry instruction at the school. Kenneth M. Chapman of ACS's education division says the survey will provide more than "faceless numbers." It will give a clearer picture of available teaching resources and help identify problems that prevent instructors from reaching their maximum classroom potential. At a National Research Council seminar on the project last week, one attendee complained that the survey does not deal with how the teacher presents the material—a factor that could help explain why students are being driven away from science courses. Neuschatz sympathized, but explained that the survey's length had to be limited so as not to become too burdensome to respondents. Ron Dagani
Brazil's fuel ethanol program sputters Archer Daniels Midland's (ADM) recent deal to ship 100 million gal of fuel ethanol from the U.S. to Brazil (C&EN, Jan. 8, page 14) underscores Brazil's continuing problems with its heralded but economically bizarre fuel ethanol program. Early last year, Brazil, troubled with runaway inflation and burdened with a horrendous debt, was trying several tactics to scale back its heavily subsidized fuel ethanol program, known as Proalcool (C&EN, March 20, 1989, page 11). Now it is facing a severe shortage of ethanol. The shortage exists because sugarcane growers, enticed by higher world sugar prices, are diverting more of their crop to sugar and away from ethanol. By spring, Brazil's ethanol shortage could become critical. Brazilians consume more than 3 billion gal of ethanol annually. Of the 13 million or so vehicles on the road in Brazil, more than 4 million of them operate on neat, or 100%, ethanol. Most of the remainder run on a blend of ethanol and gasoline. To alleviate the shortage, Brazil has considered importing methanol, ethanol, and methyl tert-butyl ether. The first shipment of methanol to reach Brazil triggered an outcry from environmentalists. Last month, a Brazilian federal judge b a n n e d methanol imports until an environmental impact study could be completed. That ban is expected to be lifted soon. Brazil plans to use methanol in a fuel blend of 33% methanol, 60% ethanol, and 7% gasoline. Compared with Brazil's ethanol consumption, ADM's 100 million gal shipment is small. But compared with the 900 million gal consumed in the U.S., it is huge. ADM's shipment also is ironic. In 1985, ADM, by far the largest U.S. fuel ethanol producer, with a capacity of 700 million gal per year, led an antidumping and countervailing duty petition against Brazilian ethanol exports to the U.S. Its fear was that imports from Brazil would hurt the U.S. fuel ethanol industry. Now its exports are bolstering Brazil's fuel ethanol industry. Earl Anderson
