What is ethanol and how is it used in gasoline?
Ethanol is a gasoline octane enhancer and oxygenate that can be produced domestically from renewable resources. Ethanol is commonly derived from the fermentation of various sugars from carbohydrates found in agricultural crops and cellulosic residues from crops or wood. Ethanol performs as an effective oxygenate, reducing harmful emissions such as benzene. A percentage of ethanol is generally blended with gasoline when used as motor fuel. The most common blends are: E10- 10% ethanol and 90 % gasoline E85- 85% ethanol and 15 % gasoline Ethanol is available in the Maine market for several different reasons. Those reasons include federal and state regulatory changes, tax incentives, and current fuel market forces.
