1.)    What is it? Ethanol is a alcohol based fuel made by fermenting and distilling crops, trees, and grasses (fueleconomy.gov). There are two types of ethanol fuel. One is E10 which is a ten percent ethanol ninety percent gasoline mixture. The second is E85 eighty five percent ethanol and fifteen percent gasoline.

2.)    Where does it come from? Ethanol can be produced from plants, grasses, trees, and crops such as corn, soybeans, and sugarcane.

3.)    Current use and availability? Ethanol is used for alcohol and for fuel. It is available across the United States but mostly in the Midwest where most crops used to make ethanol are grown. 

4.)    Sustainability? Ethanol is sustainable. It’s a renewable resource that will cut down greenhouse gases and oil dependency.

5.)    Advantages / Disadvantages. The advantages of ethanol are that it is domestically produced, lowers the use of imported oil, creates jobs, and no special fuel equipment is needed, and it can be used in gasoline cars. The disadvantages of it are that it can only be used in certain cars, lower miles per gallon, more expensive to produce, requires too much farmland, takes more energy to make than it can produce. (environment.about.com)

6.)    Environmental concerns and benefits? The benefits are that ethanol will reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases and the dependency of imported oil. The concerns are that there will not be enough farmland to create the ethanol needed to substitute gasoline.

7.)    How is it created? First biomass feedstock are grown, collected, and transported to an ethanol production facility. Second the feedstock are made into ethanol at a production facility then transported to a blender or fuel supplier. Finally the ethanol is mixed with gas by the supplier and then distributed. (afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol.html)

8.)    Costs of use? The price of ethanol goes with the price of crops. If corn is two dollars a bushel than a gallon of ethanol will cost $1.00-1.20 to make. The costs also include the natural gas or other heat sources needed to heat it. The cost of ethanol varies from region to region it may be cheaper in one part while more expensive in other parts. (energyfuturecoalition.org)

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