Carbon Footprint
Ethanol is the only low carbon alternative to gasoline available in adequate and growing supplies today. All credible comparisons to gasoline demonstrate a clear reduction in greenhouse gas emissions with the use of ethanol. A study published by Yale University's Journal of Industrial Ecology show current ethanol production provides greenhouse gas reductions between 48-59% compared to gasoline.
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Classic Autos & Ethanol
The ongoing effort to alter gasoline to minimize its impact on the environment and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign crude oil has refocused attention on fuel quality issues. For the owner of a classic automobile the question is whether today’s fuels will work in yesterday’s automobiles.
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E15: The New Ethanol Blend
E15 (15% ethanol, 85% gasoline) is a new higher octane fuel that will soon be another choice found at a gas station near you, if not already. This fuel has been approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for light duty vehicles model year 2001 and newer, and all flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs).
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E85 Information
Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) are designed to run on gasoline or E85. E85 is a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. FFVs have been produced since 1998, and more and more manufacturers enter the market all of the time. You may own a FFV and not even know it. To determine if your vehicle is an FFV, check the inside of your car's fuel filler door for an identification sticker, yellow gas cap, or consult your owner's manual.
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Economy
The growing ethanol industry provides a significant contribution to the American economy, creating new high-paying jobs, increasing market opportunities for farmers, generating additional household income and tax revenues, and stimulating capital investment.
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Energy Security
The United States is increasingly dependent on imported energy to meet our personal, transportation, and industrial needs. As a domestic, renewable source of energy, ethanol can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and increase the United States' ability to control its own security and economic future by increasing the availability of domestic fuel supplies. By displacing 465 million barrels of imported oil, the increasing reliance on domestically-produced ethanol is making available billions of dollars for investment in domestic renewable energy technologies. The increased supply of biofuels worldwide is lowering oil demand, while also helping to mitigate the devastating impacts of volatile oil markets, which reached a record $140/barrel in 2008.
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Engine Performance
Ethanol, an alcohol fuel, provides high quality, high octane for exceptional engine performance and reduced emissions. Ethanol has been used in cars since Henry Ford designed his 1908 Model T to operate on alcohol. Trillions of miles have been driven on ethanol-blended fuel since 1980. In fact, several teams in national and international racing competitions use ethanol because of its high octane and exceptional performance. Starting in 2007, the Indy Racing League – home of the Indianapolis 500 - began using 100% ethanol instead of methanol as its official race fuel. These professional race car drivers will tell you: "Ethanol performs!"
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Ethanol & Marine Equipment
Throughout the year of 2012, fuel blenders have extended the availability of fuels containing up to 10% volume ethanol (E10) to many new regions of the U.S., primarily the southeast states. Many areas across the country successfully utilize ethanol-blended fuels year round and across all octane grades, proving that ethanol blended fuels can be used successfully in marine applications. E10 is interchangeable with gasoline and virtually every gallon of gasoline sold in the U.S. today contains a percentage of ethanol up to 10%.
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Ethanol Industry Stats
Ethanol is used as a blend component in more than 96% of the nation's gasoline supply today and increasingly as a gasoline replacement in the form of mid-level ethanol blends and E85.
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Food & Fuel
More than 98% of U.S. ethanol today is produced from grains such as corn and sorghum. This process yields both fuel and livestock feed. One-third of each bushel of grain used to produce ethanol is returned to the market in the form of livestock feed-distillers grains, corn gluten feed, and corn gluten meal.
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Glossary
Not familiar with ethanol terms? This page will help you understand the basic language that is commonly used in the ethanol industry.
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How is it made?
Ethanol is made from the fermentation of sugars, and can be produced in a variety of methods using a host of resources. The most common is grains, but other options include grasses, wood waste and even garbage.
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Kids Activity Book
Help teach kids the benefits of ethanol. Great tool for teachers to use in the classroom!
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Motorcycles & Ethanol
E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) is acceptable in motorcycles and other small engines like snowmobiles, lawn mowers, and ATVs that run on ordinary unleaded gasoline. Since the mid-1980s, manufacturers have indicated that ethanol-blended fuels could be used in equipment with small engines. Some even recommend its use for cleaner air. If you are unsure, please check your owner’s manual for guidance.
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Next Generation
American ethanol production is constantly evolving. Cellulosic feedstocks and other next generational technologies are rapidly nearing commercial production. Today, more than two dozen companies are aggressively deploying demonstration or commercial scale projects all across the nation.
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Where is it made?
Ethanol production occurs in hundreds of rural communities around the country, employing local residents in fields ranging from accounting to maintenance to chemistry and engineering. This is not just a Midwest product anymore. Farmer-owned cooperatives, private companies, publicly traded corporations and even oil interests are a few of the business models the ethanol industry encompasses.
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Why is it important?
Ethanol is the only clean-burning liquid fuel available to replace oil used in our cars and light trucks. In 2012, we produced 13.3 billion gallons of ethanol. This production accounts for 10 percent of the nation's gasoline supply. In doing so we eliminated the need for an estimated 465 million barrels of imported oil. Ethanol is domestic, supplying more than 383,000 jobs in 2012 from agriculture to manufacturing to the service sector. It is also made from renewable resources.
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