Ethanol—A Renewable Energy Source

Current uses

Ethanol can be used in motor vehicles in any concentration up to 85% ethanol/15% gasoline. This sort of blend is called “E85” and many auto manufacturers have designed vehicles to operate on the E85 blend. These vehicles are referred to as Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV’s). They can run on any combination of fuel from pure gasoline to E85 by using a small microprocessor to detect what fuel blend is being utilized and automatically adjusts the engine to run properly. No changes by the vehicle operator are required when driving on an alcohol blend versus pure gasoline.

Ethanol-powered vehicles are used in countries that produce crops suitable for ethanol production; for example, in Brazil more than 4 million ethanol vehicles run on ethanol produced from sugar cane. In the US, there are currently about 3 million vehicles on the road that operate on E85 including passenger sedans, mini vans, SUV’s, and pickups. FFV’s are sold and used throughout the US. However, refueling stations and FFV’s operating predominately on E85 are likely to be found in Midwestern states with significant corn growing sectors.