Almost every station I go to has ethanol (up to 10%) added to gas. For a long time I had the option in my area to buy non ethanol gas but now it’s harder to find.
If a gallon of ethanol gets less mileage per volume than gasoline, then how is it better for the environment if I have to fill that much sooner on gas because the ethanol component lowers my tank range?
In: 101
Adding some ethanol may be a benefit to air quality in dense urban areas –especially those with seasonal temperature inversions which trap smog in the winter– by reducing emission of fine particulate matter and ozone precursors (aldehydes).
Here in Albuquerque and in Denver it seems to work: we don’t have the big brown clouds in the winter that we used to have before the adoption of “oxygenated” fuels.
However, this is the subject of intense scientific debate. You can find papers supporting just about any position you’d like to adopt in debate.
Assumptions made by researchers seem to vary widely. Many of the studies focus on E85 rather than the more common 10% ethanol used in virtually all gasoline in the US during certain times of the year.
Reader beware.
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