OCTANE AND GASOLINE

What Are Octanes?
Octanes are a family of hydrocarbon that are typical components of gasoline.

WHAT DOES THE OCTANE RATING MEAN?

• The higher the octane rating the more compression the fuel can withstand before igniting
• Fuels with higher octane ratings are used for high performance engines
• Fuels with lower octane levels are ideal for diesel engines

PAYING A PREMIUM FOR HIGH OCTANE GAS

• Unless using premium gasoline is recommended by the owners manual don't spend the extra money for it
• Higher octane only helps if you have problems with your engine "knocking"

WHAT ARE CORN FUELS

• Corn fuel is ethanol produced from corn that is used as biomass
• Corn ethanol is produced by means of ethanol fermentation and distillation
• It's used as fuel for e85 flex-fuel vehicles

IS ETHANOL BETTER?

• Ethanol is one of the best tools we have to fight air pollution
• Ethanol contains 35% oxygen which reduces harmful tailpipe emissions
• However automakers claim that ethanol can damage your engine

RANDOM FACTS

• The price of gasoline is half as much as it is in Europe
• In the 19th century gasoline used to be so worthless that petroleum factories would simply throw it away
• Thomas Midgley was a chemist who came up with the idea of putting lead in petrol. He is said to have caused more damage to the environment than any other person.

SOURCES