Ethanol can be used as a fuel and as a solvent. Describe how ethanol is produced by the hydration of ethene, and explain two reasons why this method may be preferred over fermentation for industrial fuel production.

Ethanol is produced by the hydration of ethene:
1. Ethene (C₂H₄) reacts with steam (H₂O) in the presence of a catalyst.
2. The catalyst is phosphoric acid (H₃PO₄).
3. The reaction is carried out at high temperature (≈ 200 °C) and high pressure (≈ 10–15 bar) to drive the equilibrium toward ethanol.

This method is often preferred to fermentation for industrial fuel production because:
1. The hydration process gives a purer, higher‑quality ethanol, reducing downstream purification costs.
2. It is a continuous, fast, and controllable process that can be run at scale, whereas fermentation is slower, batch‑based and limited by the rate of microbial conversion of sugars.