Bioethanol is a Clean Burning Heat Source

Bioethanol or simply 'ethanol' is a renewable energy source made by fermenting the sugar and starch components of plant by-products - mainly sugarcane and crops like grain, using yeast. It is also made from corn, potatoes, milk, rice, beetroot and recently grapes, banana and dates depending on the country’s agricultural strength.

Today, bioethanol has many uses: It is blended with petrol to make a truly sustainable transport fuel, it's used in cosmetic and other manufacturing processes, and it creates the clean burning, beautiful dancing flame in our fireplaces.

As bioethanol is produced from vegetation rather than fossil fuels (gas and coal), it produces far lower levels of carbon and so, subject to certain limits, it doesn't need to be used in conjunction with a chimney or flue.

The bioethanol fuel has a calorific value and so, depending on the amount being burned, can produce heat. In a manual burner, the vapours produced from the fuel are ignited to produce the flame and, by varying the size of the opening of the burner, more or less heat can be produced. By closing the opening of the burner, the flames are starved of oxygen and are immediately extinguished.