Environment

Calculating the benefit.

It's clear that each time you fill up with ethanol, you're making an impact on the environment. Use this easy calculator to see how filling up with a tank of ethanol-enriched fuel can be beneficial by decreasing greenhouse gases.

Fill up with ethanol, and we can all breathe a little easier.

What makes ethanol-enriched fuel better for the environment?

Truth is, choosing ethanol-enriched fuel at the pump is one of the easiest ways you can help reduce pollution and help us all breathe a little easier!

And unlike other alternatives that are being talked about and studied, fuel enriched with ethanol is available right now in many areas of the country.

So you can do your part for the environment today.

Better for the air.

Ethanol is an oxygenate - meaning it contains oxygen - which helps regular gasoline burn more cleanly. That's why gasoline enriched with ethanol burns cleaner, more completely and more efficiently with lower carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon tailpipe emissions.

Think of it! When you choose ethanol-enriched fuel, you'll improve the air we all breathe because ethanol:

• Reduces harmful tailpipe emissions of carbon monoxide by as much as 30%.
• Reduces particulate matter emissions by more than 25%.
• Reduces oxides of nitrogen.
• Reduces toxic emissions by 30%.
• Reduces exhaust volatile organic compounds (VOC) emissions by 12%.
• Reduces ozone-forming pollutants.

 That's why cities with air-pollution problems require the use of oxygenated fuels like ethanol.

The facts are clear:

• 10% ethanol-enriched fuel reduces carbon monoxide better than any other reformulated gasoline - by as much as 30%.
• Choosing even a 10% ethanol-enriched fuel results in a 35 - 46% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.
• E85 has the highest oxygen content of any fuel available, making it burn more cleanly and more completely than any other fuel.

Better for groundwater.

You may have heard about MTBE (Methyl Tertiary Butyl Ether) - a fuel oxygenate derived from petroleum - which used to be one of the best-selling oxygenates in the world. Today, MTBE is banned in many states because it has been shown to contaminate groundwater, and it is listed as a possible carcinogen. But don't worry. Ethanol is a great alternative because it's highly biodegradable and nontoxic.

Download a study [PDF, 644k] about MTBE pollution and the costs for cleanup.

Source: U.S. General Accounting Office, May 2002

The issue of energy balance.

It takes energy to produce energy. The key is to "get" more energy out of the final product than it "takes" to make it. According to a 2004 USDA study, the production of ethanol creates more than 67 percent more energy than it takes to make it. And other studies have come to similar conclusions. So when you consider that ethanol is helping expand our fuel supply, it clearly is a net energy winner - wouldn't you agree?

Renewable energy source.

Unlike fossil fuels that take thousands of years to form, ethanol is completely renewable, made from crops grown right here in the United States. According to many experts, fossil-fuel sources will be depleted in 50 years. So a renewable resource like ethanol is a long-term alternative - which can help us all breathe a sigh of relief, because we know it can be available when we need it.