HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

E85 is an abbreviation typically referring to an ethanol fuel blend of 85%
ethanol fuel Ethanol fuel is ethyl alcohol, the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, used as fuel. It is most often used as a motor fuel, mainly as a biofuel additive for gasoline. The first production car running entirely on ethanol was the ...
and 15%
gasoline Gasoline (; ) or petrol (; ) (see ) is a transparent, petroleum-derived flammable liquid that is used primarily as a fuel in most spark-ignited internal combustion engines (also known as petrol engines). It consists mostly of organic co ...
or other
hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ex ...
by
volume Volume is a measure of occupied three-dimensional space. It is often quantified numerically using SI derived units (such as the cubic metre and litre) or by various imperial or US customary units (such as the gallon, quart, cubic inch). The de ...
. In the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 that specifies the allowable ethanol content in E85 as ranging from 51% to 83%.afdc.energy.gov
''Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E85 and Other Ethanol-Gasoline Blends.'' US Department of Energy. Retrieved October 2, 2013.
This is due to the
lower heating value The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The ''calorific value'' is the total energy relea ...
of
neat Neat may refer to: * Neat (bartending), a single, unmixed liquor served in a rocks glass * Neat, an old term for horned oxen * Neat Records, a British record label * Neuroevolution of augmenting topologies (NEAT), a genetic algorithm (GA) for the ...
ethanol making it difficult to crank engines in relatively cold climates without pre-heating air intake, faster cranking, or mixing varying fractions of gasoline according to climate. Cold cranking in cold climates is the primary reason ethanol fuel is blended with any gasoline fraction. In Brazil, ethanol fuel is neat at the pumps, hence
flexible-fuel vehicle A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) or dual-fuel vehicle (colloquially called a flex-fuel vehicle) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel, usually gasoline blended with either ethanol o ...
s (FFV) including trucks, tractors, motorbikes and mopeds run on E100. The 85% fraction is commonly sold at pumps worldwide (outside the US), and when specifically supplied or sold as E85 is always 85% ethanol (at pumps or in barrel). Having a guaranteed ethanol fraction obviates the need for a vehicle system to calculate best engine tune according to maximise performance and economy. In countries like Australia where E85 is always 85% ethanol (and pump fuel with varying fractions is called "flex fuel"), performance motoring enthusiasts and motor racing clubs/championships use E85 extensively (without the need for any FFV certification). Use of alcohol (ethanol and methanol) in motor racing history parallels the invention of the automobile, favoured due to inherent combustion characteristics such as high thermal efficiency, high
octane rating An octane rating, or octane number, is a standard measure of a fuel's ability to withstand compression in an internal combustion engine without detonating. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating ...
, raised torque and with some advanced engines, better specific fuel consumption. In the United States, government
subsidies A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...
of ethanol in general and E85 in particular have encouraged a growing infrastructure for the retail sale of E85, especially in corn growing states in the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
.


Fuel economy


Specific fuel consumption

E85 promoters and the Society of Automotive Engineers contend that automotive manufacturers currently fail to equal the fuel consumption of gasoline because they fail to take advantages of characteristics which are superior in ethanol-based fuel blends. They claim that some ethanol engines have already produced 22% more miles per gallon than identical gasoline engines. Ethanol advocates also state that it is a mistake to base ethanol engine design on gasoline engine design, and that ethanol engines should be based on diesel engine design parameters instead. Using this approach, the EPA has produced an ethanol-only engine which achieves much higher brake thermal efficiency levels than gasoline engines achieve. Mileage is dependent upon the composition of the ethanol-gasoline blend, transmission, state of engine tune (primarily fuel-air mixture, spark timing and compression ratio). In the United States to offset this difference in fuel consumption in vehicles not optimised for ethanol, legislation has been passed to subsidize its cost.


Energy value

In contrast, ethanol critics contest the benefits of E85 by focusing on the fact that E85 has 33%
lower heating value The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The ''calorific value'' is the total energy relea ...
compared to the
higher heating value The heating value (or energy value or calorific value) of a substance, usually a fuel or food (see food energy), is the amount of heat released during the combustion of a specified amount of it. The ''calorific value'' is the total energy relea ...
of gasoline. However comparing energy expressed as a value of heat does not reflect the total work from an
Otto Cycle An Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynamic cycle that describes the functioning of a typical spark ignition piston engine. It is the thermodynamic cycle most commonly found in automobile engines. The Otto cycle is a description of what happ ...
. Because
energy content In physics, energy density is the amount of energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume. It is sometimes confused with energy per unit mass which is properly called specific energy or . Often only the ''useful'' or extrac ...
does not factor certain latent or specific heat values, nor combustion pressure, looking at heat alone in the combustion equation does not determine efficiency or work according to the
laws of thermodynamics The laws of thermodynamics are a set of scientific laws which define a group of physical quantities, such as temperature, energy, and entropy, that characterize thermodynamic systems in thermodynamic equilibrium. The laws also use various paramet ...
.


Octane and performance


Use in flexible-fuel vehicles

E85 ethanol is used in engines modified to accept higher concentrations of ethanol. In the US such FFVs are designed to run on any mixture of gasoline or ethanol up to 85% ethanol, whereas in countries such as Brazil where the climate is typically warmer, FFV run on neat alcohol. There are a few major differences between FFVs and non-FFVs. One is the elimination of bare
magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 of the periodic ta ...
,
aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
, and
rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...
parts in the fuel system.
Fuel injection Fuel injection is the introduction of fuel in an internal combustion engine, most commonly automotive engines, by the means of an injector. This article focuses on fuel injection in reciprocating piston and Wankel rotary engines. All comp ...
control systems have a wider range of pulse widths to inject up to 34% more fuel (which in turn produces more power).
Stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...
fuel lines, sometimes lined with plastic, and stainless-steel fuel tanks in place of
terne Terne plate is a form of tinplate: a thin steel sheet coated with an alloy of lead and tin. The terne alloy was in the ratio of 10-20% tin and the remainder lead. The low tin content made it cheaper than other tinplates. Terne plate was used for ...
(
tinplate Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap milled steel, the backing metal was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the manufacture of ...
) fuel tanks have been used. In some cases, FFVs use specific engine oil that neutralises acidity. For vehicles with in-tank-mounted fuel pumps, precautions to prevent
arcing An electric arc, or arc discharge, is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge. The electric current, current through a normally Electrical conductance, nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma (p ...
, as well as
flame arrestor A flame arrester (also spelled arrestor), deflagration arrester, or flame trap are safety devices fitted to openings of enclosures or to pipe work, and are intended to allow flow but prevent flame transmission fuel combustion by extinguishing th ...
s positioned in the tank's fill pipe, are sometimes used.


Octane rating

As more effort is put into maximizing an engine to take advantage of E85's higher octane rating, engines achieve greater power advantages. One car that has higher power on ethanol is the
Koenigsegg CCXR The Koenigsegg CCX is a mid-engine sports car manufactured by Swedish automotive manufacturer Koenigsegg Automotive AB. The project began with the aim of making a global car, designed and engineered to comply with global safety and environment r ...
, which on ethanol is the fifth-most powerful production car, with 20% more horsepower on E85 than on gasoline. According to the manufacturer, this is due to the cooling properties of ethanol. E85 has an
octane rating An octane rating, or octane number, is a standard measure of a fuel's ability to withstand compression in an internal combustion engine without detonating. The higher the octane number, the more compression the fuel can withstand before detonating ...
higher than that of regular gasoline's typical rating of 87, or premium gasoline's 91-93. This allows it to be used in higher-compression engines, which tend to produce more power per unit of displacement than their gasoline counterparts. Examples of octane mis-citation can be found at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association titled "E85 Facts"Iowa Renewable Fuels Associatio
"E85 Facts"
which cites a range of 100-105, and a document at the Texas State Energy Conservation Office titled "Ethanol",Texas State Energy Conservation Offic

/ref> which cites a 113 rating. Some vehicles can be converted to use E85 despite not being specifically built for it. Because of the lower heating value E85 has a cooler intake charge—which, coupled with its high stability level from its high octane rating—has also been used as a "power adder" in turbocharged performance vehicles. These modifications have not only resulted in lower GHG emissions, but typically resulted in 10-12% power and torque increase at the wheels. Where the engine was previously knock limited by gasoline, power improvements are as high as 40%. Because of its low price (less than US$4.00/gal in some places) and high availability in certain areas people have started to turn to using it in place of high-end racing fuels, which typically cost over US$10.00/gal.


Emissions

There are four primary types of pollutants scientists study. These emissions are hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Because E85 is predominantly ethanol, the exhaust emissions are very different from those of regular gasoline. Numerous studies have compared and contrasted the different emissions and the effects these emissions have on the environment, but the tests have been inconclusive. The tests have shown very little consistency if any at all because there are too many variables involved. The make and model of the vehicle, the way in which the ethanol was produced and the vehicle's overall
fuel efficiency Fuel efficiency is a form of thermal efficiency, meaning the ratio of effort to result of a process that converts chemical potential energy contained in a carrier (fuel) into kinetic energy or work. Overall fuel efficiency may vary per device, wh ...
all play a large role in the overall outcome of each study.Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, Vol. 59 (Issue 8) To address the problem of inaccuracy, engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory combined data from all applicable emissions studies and compiled them into one data set. This compiled set of data showed that on average all emissions that are federally regulated showed a decrease or no statistically relevant difference between E85 and gasoline.Atmospheric Environment, Vol. 45, Issue 39 EPA's stringent tier-II vehicle emission standards require that FFVs achieve the same low emissions level regardless whether E85 or gasoline is used. However, E85 can further reduce emissions of certain pollutants as compared to conventional gasoline or lower-volume ethanol blends. For example, E85 is less volatile than gasoline or low-volume ethanol blends, which results in fewer evaporative emissions. Using E85 also reduces carbon-monoxide emissions and provides significant reductions in emissions of many harmful toxics, including benzene, a known human carcinogen. However, E85 in certain engine operating conditions may increase emissions of
acetaldehyde Acetaldehyde (IUPAC systematic name ethanal) is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3 CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO (Me = methyl). It is a colorless liquid or gas, boiling near room temperature. It is one of the mos ...
. EPA is conducting additional analysis to expand our understanding of the emissions impacts of E85.


Controversy


Economics

A study by
Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...
found that the economic benefit of E85 is highly dependent on the price of
crude oil Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crude ...
.


Food vs. fuel

E85 critics contend that production of ethanol from corn (maize) drives up world food prices, causing corn to be unaffordable or even unavailable. E85 advocates counter that concern by pointing out that over 93% of all corn grown in the United States is never fed directly to people, but is instead used as
livestock feed Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including ...
. Corn used to produce ethanol contains a high amount of starch and is not easily digestible by humans, like
sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive muta ...
. American farmers grow more corn than people purchase; there is an annual surplus of corn in the U.S. E85 advocates say that corn prices have increased due to manipulation of the commodities markets and because American corn companies sell more and more US-grown corn to
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, creating more competition for corn buyers, and therefore driving up its price. E85 critics contend that ethanol producers may not reduce
carbon emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and larg ...
due to the petroleum and natural gas used in raising corn and refining it. E85 advocates reply by pointing to ethanol producers who do not do so, but instead use E85 or
biodiesel Biodiesel is a form of diesel fuel derived from plants or animals and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made by chemically reacting lipids such as animal fat (tallow), soybean oil, or some other vegetable oil with ...
fuel to transport E85, and use
biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...
as a heat source for the
distillation Distillation, or classical distillation, is the process of separation process, separating the components or substances from a liquid mixture by using selective boiling and condensation, usually inside an apparatus known as a still. Dry distilla ...
of ethanol instead of petro-products like natural gas. Some say that
cellulosic ethanol Cellulosic ethanol is ethanol (ethyl alcohol) produced from cellulose (the stringy fiber of a plant) rather than from the plant's seeds or fruit. It can be produced from grasses, wood, algae, or other plants. It is generally discussed for use as a ...
produced from waste materials or fast growing non-food crops such as
switchgrass ''Panicum virgatum'', commonly known as switchgrass, is a perennial warm season bunchgrass native to North America, where it occurs naturally from 55°N latitude in Canada southwards into the United States and Mexico. Switchgrass is one of the ...
is much more beneficial, but not yet economically practical at large scale. Others say that the world can easily replace all of its use of petroleum by simply making ethanol from the many crops that yield more ethanol per acre than corn yields, with existing technology, not future technology, and that certain elements in the cellulosic ethanol field are more interested in patent rights than in producing the greatest amount of ethanol at the lowest price point.


Availability and price

E85 is increasingly common in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, mainly in the
Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...
where corn is a major
crop A crop is a plant that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence. When the plants of the same kind are cultivated at one place on a large scale, it is called a crop. Most crops are cultivated in agriculture or hydroponic ...
and is the primary source material for ethanol-fuel production. As of July 1, 2014, there were more than 3,300 fuel stations that offered E85 fuel. E85 as a
fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...
is widely used in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
; however, most of it is imported from Italy and Brazil. E85 was formerly available from the
Maxol Maxol is an Irish oil company, part of McMullan Bros. Limited. It was founded in 1920. Organisation Republic of Ireland *Maxol Lubricants Ltd. (Lubricant supplier to the automotive, industrial, marine, and agricultural markets) *Maxol Direct Ltd ...
chain in
Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, where it was made from
whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard ...
, a byproduct of
cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...
manufacturing. The availability ended in 2011, due to a severe excise-duty hike which rendered it economically unviable. In
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
E85 is available from 52 St1 chain locations and 71 ABC chain locations. The E85 sold by St1 is labeled as RE85 and as "Eko E85" in ABC-stations to indicate it is manufactured from Finnish bio-waste. By way of international price comparison, in the Cook Islands as with many of the Pacific Islands, cost of producing 100% ethanol from coconut biomass is a fraction of obtaining fossil fuels. In France, about 30% of gas stations supply E85, or about 2,725 stations, and the number of flex-fuel kits installed doubled in 2021 to 30,000 kits from the previous year.


US price regulation

The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 created the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) to subsidize production costs. The 2008 Farm Bill reduced the VEETC's 51-cent tax credit to 45 cents. Other measures taken by Congress to jump start ethanol production include the 2004 VEETC bill, which provided for a Small Ethanol Producer Tax Credit which gave tax credits to small ethanol producers. More recently, the Tax Relief Act, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization Act, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended the tax cuts allowed by VEETC from the end of 2010 to the end of 2012. In the United States, to realize equivalent fuel economy at the pump with an FFV, the price of E85 must be much lower than gasoline. E85 was at least 20% less expensive in most areas as recently as 2011. In one US test, a 2007 Chevy Tahoe FFV averaged 18.3 MPG (U.S. gallons) for gasoline and 13.5 MPG for E85, 26.5% worse than gasoline. However, in Australia, where Holden has sold more than 70,000 FFVs since 2010, the difference in combined consumption on similar V8 variants in a family sedan is between 10% and 20%. In 2010, the cost of fuel in the US averaged US$3.42, while the cost for E85 averaged US$3.09, or 90% of the cost of gasoline. In another test, however, a fleet of
Ford Taurus The Ford Taurus is an automobile that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company in the United States from the 1986 to 2019 model years. Introduced in late 1985 for the 1986 model year, six generations were produced over 34 years; a brief hiat ...
es averaged only about 6% fewer miles per gallon in ethanol-based vehicles when compared to traditional, gas-powered Tauruses.


See also

*
Alcohol fuel Various alcohols are used as fuel for internal combustion engines. The first four aliphatic alcohols (methanol, ethanol, propanol, and butanol) are of interest as fuels because they can be synthesized chemically or biologically, and they have ch ...
*
Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...
*
Lambda sensor An oxygen sensor (or lambda sensor, where lambda refers to air–fuel equivalence ratio, usually denoted by λ) or probe or sond, is an electronic device that measures the proportion of oxygen (O2) in the gas or liquid being analysed. It was de ...
– also known as an oxygen sensor, used to measure lean versus rich combustion conditions *
Methanol Methanol (also called methyl alcohol and wood spirit, amongst other names) is an organic chemical and the simplest aliphatic alcohol, with the formula C H3 O H (a methyl group linked to a hydroxyl group, often abbreviated as MeOH). It is a ...
– wood alcohol, not to be confused with ethanol (grain alcohol) *
Timeline of alcohol fuel Ethanol, an alcohol fuel, is an important fuel for the operation of internal combustion engines that are used in cars, trucks, and other kinds of machinery. * Ethanol was first isolated from wine in approximately 1100 and was found to burn shortl ...


References


Further reading


Handbook for Handling, Storing, and Dispensing E85 and Other Ethanol-Gasoline Blends
September 2013, US Department of Energy

- See how many flex-fuel cars are on the road and how many stations offer E85. Center for American Progress *Eric Kvaalen, Philip C. Wankat, Bruce A. McKenzie

Purdue University, April 1984. *Matthew Phenix

''
Popular Science ''Popular Science'' (also known as ''PopSci'') is an American digital magazine carrying popular science content, which refers to articles for the general reader on science and technology subjects. ''Popular Science'' has won over 58 awards, incl ...
'', June 2005.
Ohio E85 Fleet Test Results

Properties of ethanol Transportation Fuels
- USDOE Report,
Alcohol Fuels Reference Work #1, July 1991 (Especially Chapter 7 for corrosion and increased engine wear risks associated with water-contaminated E85)

University of Michigan E85 Emissions Report

University of Michigan E85 Control of Emissions Report

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Report on E85 Conversion of Silverado PickupLiveGreen GoYellowEnergy and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts of Fuel Ethanol Argonne National Laboratory


External links


French manufacturer of Ethanol E85 conversion kits

American Coalition of Ethanol E10 - E30 Fuel Economy Study



EPA Presentation
an
Technical paper
it is based upon.

- US Government Tax Subsidy to End in 2007
Winning The Oil Endgame
Rocky Mountain Institute's fuel strategy
Think Outside The Barrel
- Video of a talk by Vinod Khosla at Google TechTalks

- See how many flex-fuel cars are on the road and how many fuel stations offer E85.
US biofuel production should be suspended, UN says
{{Automobile configuration Ethanol fuel Petroleum products Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2006 All articles containing potentially dated statements