This information can be utilized to understand the benefits of E85 ethanol fuel to see why ethanol fuel has great potential for large scale applications.
- E85 is easy to use and handle – E85 fueling equipment is slightly different and of similar cost to equipment used to store and dispense petroleum fuels. In some cases, it may be possible to convert your existing petroleum equipment to handle E85.
- Ethanol supports our America’s farmers – With the nation’s farmers begining to sell their land to home developers, their land will once again become valuable for growing the corn necessary for ethanol prodcution and will preserve America’s Heart Land.
- Using E85 reduces petroleum consumption – Use of E85 will reduce a fleet’s overall use of petroleum and replace it with a renewable-based fuel produced ("grown") in the United States.
- E85 is good for the environment
– Beyond operational ease, E85 offers considerable environmental benefits. To learn more about fuel economy, greenhouse gas scores, and air pollution scores for individual vehicles, go to the U.S. Department of Energy/U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s on-line Fuel Economy Guide. You can search for E85-fueled vehicles
by selecting "flexible-fueled vehicles" in the "Select Vehicle Type" pull-down menu. Once you are there, select individual vehicles to get fuel economy, greenhouse gas, and air pollution details. - Reduced ozone-forming and overall toxic tailpipe emissions
- Reduced fuel lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions (carbon dioxide)
- It is primarily composed of ethyl alcohol (ethanol), derived from renewable resources
- Ethanol is biodegradable and much less of a spill threat to surface and ground water than petroleum-based fuel spills.
– FFVs specifically designed to run on E85 are becoming more common each model year, and FFVs are typically available as standard equipment with little or no incremental cost. See the current model year FFVs.
– FFVs may operate on gasoline, and, in fact, most of the 4 million FFVs on US roadways do today. Although that is not a positive from an E85-use standpoint, it does underscore the flexibility FFVs offer fleets. When E85 is not available, or an FFV travels outside the fueling network, a driver may simply fuel with either fuel as the situation dictates.