Pros & cons of e85 ethanol

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E85 is a blend of 85 percent ethanol with 15 percent gasoline that can be used in flexible fuel vehicles. Ethanol is considered a green fuel, since it is made by fermenting renewable plant materials into denatured alcohol. E85 use reduces the need for imported petroleum and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline or diesel fuel.

1. Sustainable Fuel

   • Gasoline is made from petroleum, which must be pumped out of the ground from finite reserves. Ethanol, on the other hand, comes from crops that can be replanted annually, or even from perennial plants. It has a smaller carbon footprint than petroleum-based fuel, since the carbon dioxide released from burning ethanol in your engine is reabsorbed from the atmosphere by the crops planted to make more ethanol the following year.

   Reduced Emissions

   • The production and use of E85 reduces total greenhouse gas emissions by 15 to 20 percent versus gasoline. Compared to gasoline, ethanol produces lower levels of carbon monoxide and other toxic substances, including the carcinogenic chemical compound benzene. Because it is less volatile than gasoline, E85 does not evaporate into the atmosphere as easily during refueling or transport. E85 does produce higher levels of a toxic pollutant called acetaldehyde, and government studies are looking at the overall effects of E85 use on the environment.

   Engine Incompatibility

   • Unlike E10, the blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline found at many gas stations nationwide, E85 can only be used in special flexible fuel vehicles designed to run on any blend of gasoline and ethanol up to 85 percent. Using E85 in a normal gasoline vehicle voids the warranty and may result in serious damage to the engine. Flexible fuel vehicles are available for the same price as their gasoline counterparts from Dodge, Ford, GM, Daimler Chrysler, Bentley, Mercedes, Nissan, Mazda and Toyota -- according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, there were only about 6 million flexible fuel vehicles in America as of 2009, out of more than 255 million passenger vehicles.

   Reduced Mileage

   • E85 is usually cheaper than gasoline, but the perceived savings are offset by the reduction in gas mileage of vehicles running on the ethanol blend. Ethanol is less energy-dense than petroleum, so a flex-fuel vehicle can run for fewer miles on the same volume of E85. Manufacturers believe that the mileage may be improved by designing vehicles specifically to run on the E85 blend, instead of requiring them to run on any combination of gasoline and ethanol.

Source: www.ehow.com

Tags: fuel vehicles, flexible fuel, flexible fuel vehicles, gasoline ethanol, than gasoline, blend percent, blend percent ethanol