Ethanol holds the promise of providing cleaner fuel for the future. You can flex ethanol with gasoline and get cleaner more efficient fuel for your vehicle. Ethanol is grown locally as it is produced from grain. You are starting to see many service stations with E85 at the pumps along with the gasoline fuel. Ethanol is referred to as a flex fuel because you can mix it with gasoline in any percentage that you may want to use. Some consumers like that idea because they are getting a cleaner fuel and adding one that gives them the same power on the road when they drive.

Ethanol (ethyl alcohol) is fermented from corn, grains or agricultural waste which gives it more of a food odor when it emits from the vehicle. Many people claim that it smells more like French fries or barbeque rather than that sulfuric odor produced from the gasoline driven vehicles. Pure ethanol is not sold as a stand-alone fuel.  Ethanol is mixed with gasoline in varying percentages as an example E85 a common mixture means 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.  In the United States it is added to gasoline in varying quantities to boost the octane level but it must meet the EPA requirements for oxygenated fuels, especially in metropolitan areas. Ethanol is a very clean burning fuel and noted to reduce ozone forming emissions. Since ethanol is plant based it can be re-grown over and over again. This is very helpful to the American farmer. We should strive to help the farmers as they produce all our food supply and by using a fuel based plant that can be re-growned the farmer finds that he is able to better maintain his farm.

The problem with ethanol is the fact that it tends to deteriorate non-synthetic and natural rubber fuel system parts. The deterioration of these parts can become expensive to the consumer if let go until the engine becomes damaged. This is one of the cons against using ethanol as a fuel. Ethanol is less volatile than gasoline which gives it a less chance of explosion in spills and accidents. Even though it is more corrosive than gasoline it still remains less toxic making it much safer to handle. Many people are starting to like the idea of using ethanol and it appears that the future for ethanol is starting to look very good.  Today there are many more refining stations being built as well as many that are in the planning stages. The auto manufacturers are searching out better ways to reduce the corrosion that the vehicle suffers from the use of ethanol while the producers of ethanol are researching ways to better refine for the vantage of the vehicle. Ethanol may well become the fuel for modern America.