Ethanol For Everyone!

I was doing some research today on ethanol fuels. The big one is called E85, thus named because it contains 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

This is such a great idea, why didn't we think of it sooner? I mean, it's made from corn for goodness sakes!

E85 fuel can only be used in Flex Fuel Vehicles though. If you don't have an FFV and use ethanol, apparently it eats away at various types of metals, rubber and other important components of your car.

It so happens that I have an FFV. I didn't quite know that much about it when I bought it, a 1999 Ford Ranger. But I did know that it was a good thing.

Now all I have to do is find some place to buy E85.

The closest place to me is more than an hour away in Morgantown, West Virginia. I don't think I'll be driving there anytime soon to fill up, especially since they say you get decreased gas mileage with E85.

In some vehicles, you may get as much as 25 percent fewer miles on a tank of gas. The good thing though is that E85 is generally cheaper, up to 35 percent cheaper, than regular gasoline.

I guess it only costs what it does because the supply is relatively low. Only about 800 gas stations in the U.S. sell the stuff, mostly in the Midwest, aka the "Corn Belt."

A lot of State governments have converted their vehicle fleets to E85. That is a good move, I think. But there are some states, like Florida, where it is illegal to sell fuel with more than 10 percent ethanol. The State of Florida does use E85 vehicles in its fleet, but only the state can buy the fuel, not your average Joe on the street.

I'd like to see an E85 station open up in my neck of the woods. I'd use it. But I guess there is not much demand for the stuff. Only about 1 in 40 cars in the U.S. right now are FFVs.

So next time you buy a car, get an FFV. It doesn't cost any more and you can use both E85 and regular gasoline. But when E85 is on every street corner, you'll be ready to save the planet.

On a side note, I found out what "denatured" means. Ethanol is straight up alcohol. You could mix it with your Coke or orange juice and get plastered. So to prevent people from doing that, they add a bittering agent, or in the case of E85 some gasoline. That's what it takes to keep people from drinking it. That's denatured. You learn something new everyday.