Recently, the U.S. government increased the cap on the amount of ethanol that can be used in gasoline from 10% to 15%. Upping this limit should encourage the development of alternative sources of ethanol, but changing this limit affects the car manufacturers.
A proposal to require cars to use an E85 blend (that is, 85% ethanol, 15 % petroleum) could be accommodated by car manufacturers, but it is not known whether this ethanol-rich blend would damage engines designed to operate on the current 10% blend.
Scaling up the use of cellulosic biofuel is not just a scientific or technological issue, but a policy issue as well. One scenario would be to have the ethanol limit gradually increase from to 85%; the current increase to 15% is a down payment on this strategy.
Learn more about E85 and "flex fuel" vehicles here.
Photo: an E85-powered Chevrolet HHR.
No comments:
Post a Comment