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Ethanol is our fastest route to independence from foreign and Middle
East based gasoline.
Ethanol is a liquid fuel made from vegetable type sources instead of
from oil.
Sources for ethanol include corn, wheat, barley, trees and grasses, etc.
Green Power
Ethanol is less polluting
than gasoline.
Because ethanol is
created from renewable resources, wider use of ethanol would greatly
reduce our dependency on foreign oil.
Ethanol is most commonly
mixed with regular gasoline and many vehicles are made to run on a
fuel mixture known as E85 fuel which is 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.
Major auto manufacturers
such as Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz and GM make several vehicles
which use ethanol. They are sometimes know as Flexible Fuel or "flex
fuel" vehicles (FFV).
As ethanol is not yet
widely available in the US these cars and trucks are purchased mostly by large
companies who have their own fueling stations.
Ethanol could easily be
made available to consumers at currently existing gas stations.
In the US only about 700 of the nation's 170,000 gas stations
offer E85
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Brazil has become a model country for the use of ethanol. They
primarily use ethanol made from sugar cane processed into an alcohol
form.
In fact over
50% of the cars sold in Brazil are flex-fuel cars that use pretty
much any combination of ethanol and regular gasoline. Computerized
sensors in the engines figure out the gas-ethanol combination
currently in the car and get the engine to work accordingly. It is
estimated that by 2008 90% of all cars sold in Brazil will be
flex-fuel.
Their great
advantage over hybrid cars is that they don’t cost more than regular
cars. Unlike the US, ethanol fuel is widely available at gas
stations in Brazil.
There is
absolutely no reason this can't be done in the US and Europe!
Demand it!
Look at all the cars (below) made for ethanol use in Brazil! Why
aren't these available in the US and Europe?
Many major auto
companies sell flex-fuel vehicles in Brazil: Chevrolet (Astra, Corsa,
Meriva, Montana), Citroen (C3), Fiat (Mille, Palio, Siena, Stilo),
Ford (EcoSport, Fiesta), Peugot (206), Renault (Clio, Scenic),
Volkswagen (Fox, Gol, Kombi).
Ethanol in the News
NOW: More cars available in US
that use ethanol
Available flex-fuel cars
NOW: Fuel stations are starting
to pump ethanol for consumers
Ethanol
Fueling Stations
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