The enthusiasm for ethanol ("flex-fuel" cars use E85, which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline) is welcome. But it works best if we use plug-in hybrids to power most of our miles electrically. Otherwise we'll need more ethanol than we can make sustainably. A combination solution: increasingly renewable electricity as the primary fuel and ethanol as the range extender.

Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a clean-burning biofuel created from corn or other starch or sugar-based feedstocks. It can be blended with unleaded gasoline in amounts up to 85%.

Some automakers have recently been building E85 capability into all instances of certain of their models; for example, all 2003 DaimlerChrysler vehicles (cars and minivans) with their 3.3-liter V6 engine can run on E85. However, in general a vehicle must be tuned to use ethanol; its requirements for fuel-air mixture and spark timing, in particular, are significantly different from those for gasoline.

For OEM Tank Information See Gas Tank Removal-Replacement, for Aftermarket Tanks See Aftermarket Fuel Tank FAQ GS, Aftermarket Fuel Tank FAQ Classic.

Ethanol Alcohol is an alcohol gel fuel made from natural sugar-cane or corn. It is a renewable resource and is considered to be the cleanest burning alcohol manufactured today. The by-product of the burn is water vapour. Ethanol alcohol is superior to all other alcohol products and is the only alcohol that qualifies for certification under Environment Canada's stringent Environmental Choice Program's requirements. Back to List

Not many places. There are only 619 ethanol stations in the United States, an average of only about 12 per state. And many of those are restricted to government or private use. A few states, such as Illinois and Minnesota, have a fair number of ethanol stations, but in most places they are scarce.

Blueprints and instructions are available for the Charles 803 ethanol still that will make 5 gallons or more an hour of 180-proof ethanol on the first run, every run. It is only 5 feet high and weighs only 28 lbs (13kg). This is an advanced fourth-generation design. It is not a toy for making drinking alcohol: this is a serious tool for making your own fuel.

Ethanol is produced by fermenting the starch in corn or other grain crops. The fermented starch is distilled into alcohol and excess water is removed, resulting in very pure ethyl alcohol that can be mixed with gasoline. One bushel of corn yields 2.8 gallons of ethanol. The starch portion of corn is about 70%. The remaining 30% left over after starch is extracted is used as highly nutritious animal feed. In 2005, about 14% (1.

oxygenated fuel additive for the purpose of reducing ozone and carbon monoxide vehicle emissions; and, Fuel ethanol is an alcohol that is produced primarily from corn. Ethanol can also be produced by using other grain crops that contain adequate starch content, such as barley and sugar cane. The production of ethanol requires that starches be unraveled after the corn is broken up in the milling process.

Ethanol is the most widely used biofuel today. Also known as ethyl alcohol or grain alcohol, it can be used either as an alternative fuel or as an octane-boosting, pollution-reducing additive to gasoline. It is an alcohol fuel made from sugars and starch found in plants. In the U.S., ethanol is primarily produced from the starch contained in grains such as corn, grain sorghum, and wheat through a fermentation and distillation process that converts starch to sugar and then to alcohol.

Ethanol is most often blended at a 10% rate, which is widely available and covered under warranty by every automobile manufacturer that sells vehicles in the United States for every make and model of automobile. The second blending rate that is growing in popularity and usage is E85 (85% ethanol, 15% unleaded gasoline). It can be used in flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs), which are made by DaimlerChrysler, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercury, Isuzu and Mercedes.

Ethanol’s future is bright, as the nation looks to replace foreign oil in a highly-charged energy market. A nationwide Renewable Fuels Standard was passed in late 2005 mandating that the nation reach a level of using 7 billion gallons of renewable fuels by 2012, with more legislation now being proposed to boost that requirement to 12 billion gallons by 2012.

You can safely use gasoline in your vehicle that contains up to 10% ethanol and all car manufacturers in North America warrantee the use of E-10 gasoline. The ethanol-blended gasoline that is commonly sold throughout Canada and the United States contains 6% to 10% ethanol. In order to use fuel that has an ethanol content of more than 10%, a flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) is required.