ETHANOL (E85)

WHAT IS ETHANOL MADE OF

• Ethanol is an alcohol blend gasoline made of corn and grains. Ethanol is added to gasoline to oxygenate fuel at the gas pumps.

IS ETHANOL E85 RENEWABLE?

• Yes, ethanol consists of mainly corn/grains, which can be grown by farmers.

HOW IS ETHANOL MADE

• Ethanol can be fermented from many sources of starch, including corn, wheat, grain sorghum, barley, and potatoes.
• It is then added to gasoline to create the E85 fuel

WHAT TYPE OF VEHICLES CAN USE ETHANOL

• Any flex fuel vehicle has the capability of running on either Ethanol(E85) or regular gasoline.
• There are also some vehicles that can run on ethanol or gasoline that aren't flex fuel.

THE COSTS OF USING ETHANOL

• Ethanol is sold for a cheaper price at the pump. However, few gas stations sell E85 so there's the extra traveling that could occur to get the fuel. Also E85 fuel decreases the mileage of your vehicle. Which eventually adds up making ethanol more expensive than regular gasoline. Which is a major cost.

ADVANTAGES

• The use of E85 fuel can decrease the emissions of greenhouse gases by up to 37.1%. Ethanol is considered a renewable energy source. Burns much cleaner than regular gasoline.
• Cheaper to produce
• Spills of ethanol are much easier to take care of

DISADVANTAGES

• Slightly more expensive to use than regular gasoline.
• The argument of "food or fuel"
• Biodiversity- there's a lot of farmland required to grow enough for food and fuel, which can cause deforestation.
• Ethanol is a hygroscopic fuel which means it absorbs water from the air causing high corrosion aggressiveness

DEVELOPING A MARKET

• One challenge would be there are many people that are against using food as fuel.
• Also the negative impact on fuel economy of vehicles which will cause some to shy away from the use of ethanol.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

• Ethanol can have both positive and negative impact on the environment.
• The use of ethanol as fuel can generate less greenhouse gases than regular gasoline
• During the production of Ethanol the use of phosphorus and nitrogen would have a negative effect on the environment.

BUYING A VEHICLE??

• No, personally I wouldn't buy a vehicle that runs on ethanol. There's more negatives than there are positives so in the end it ends up not being worth it.