This Earth Day, take a moment to consider what is in the air we breathe. Ethanol free fuel or E0 uses harmful chemicals like MTBE and benzene, both carcinogens, to increase their octane rating. Compare this with fuel that contains ethanol like E15 and E85. Ethanol is a high-octane substitute for those types of chemicals thus making these types of ethanol containing fuels safer for you and for the environment. According to Jessie Stolark at the Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI); “Increasing the standard gasoline blend from E10 to E15 would also reduce harmful volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions, displace cancer causing emissions, and reduce smog forming potential, as well as cutting greenhouse gases by 1.5 percent.”
Research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture shows that corn ethanol reduces CO2 emissions by 43 percent, and studies at the Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory demonstrate that advanced varieties can reduce emissions by 100 percent or more.
Thanks to ethanol, there are fewer toxic, dirty chemicals in the air we breathe.