What is ethanol?
Ethanol is a clean, high-octane, high-performance fuel for your vehicle. Up to a ten-percent blend of ethanol is covered under warranty by every auto manufacturer that sells vehicles in the U.S. for every make and every model of vehicle. Conventional ethanol is made from renewable resources like corn and wheat.Fuel grade ethanol is about 99% pure alcohol and has a number of important properties to it that make it an excellent fuel additive for your car. Ethanol is a clean burning fuel that contains a high percentage (35%) of oxygen that encourages a more complete combustion of your car’s fuel thereby reducing harmful emissions. More importantly, ethanol is renewable.
Ethanol is a clean, high-octane, high-performance fuel for your vehicle. Up to a ten-percent blend of ethanol is covered under warranty by every auto manufacturer that sells vehicles in the U.S. for every make and every model of vehicle. Conventional ethanol is made from renewable resources like corn and wheat. Fuel grade ethanol is about 99% pure alcohol and has a number of important properties to it that make it an excellent fuel additive for your car. Ethanol is a clean burning fuel that contains a high percentage (35%) of oxygen that encourages a more complete combustion of your car’s fuel thereby reducing harmful emissions. More importantly, ethanol is renewable.
Ethanol (ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol) is an alcohol-based alternative fuel. It is a clear, colorless liquid made up of a group of chemical compounds whose molecules contain a hydroxyl group, -OH, bonded to a carbon atom. Ethanol (CH3CH2OH) can be produced from any biological feedstocks (starch crops) that contain appreciable amounts of sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar, such as starch or cellulose. Examples of feedstocks that contain sugar are sugar beets and sugar cane. Corn contains starch that can be converted into sugar relatively easily, so it is the most commonly used crop. However, ethanol can also be made from barley and wheat. A number of cellulosic biomass materials, such as trees and grasses, are made up of cellulose which also can be converted to sugar, although with more difficulty than is required to convert starch. Ethanol made from cellulosic biomass materials instead of traditional feedstocks is called bioethanol. Most ethanol is produced in the grai
Ethanol is both an alcoholic beverage and a fuel. It is produced when common yeast (the same yeast used for baking bread or making beer) are fed any carbohydrate feedstock. These feedstocks are most commonly fruit, grains, or vegetables. In the United States (US), ethanol for fuel is most typically produced from corn grain. The resulting ethanol is “denatured”, rendered unfit for human consumption, by adding a small amount (less than 5%) of gasoline to produce fuel ethanol. This prevents the fuel from being taxed or misused as a beverage.
Ethanol intended for fuel is usually produced from grains such as corn, wheat, and barley, and results from a fermentation process. About two and a half gallons of ethanol can be produced from each bushel of corn. A by-product of the process is used as cattle feed. When it is added to gasoline at the concentration of 8% by volume, it will increase the octane level by about 2 points. So if the octane rating listed on the gas pump is 87, gasoline containing ethanol will have an octane rating of about 89, which results in the equivalent of a premium grade of gasoline.
