Jamestown Sun, ND
12-06-07
Study: Ethanol produces slightly better gas mileage, environmental effects
The Jamestown Sun
By Kris Turner
WASHINGTON — Cars using higher ethanol blends achieved barely higher gas
mileage and emitted less air pollution, a study compiled for the American
Coalition for Ethanol concluded.
Although the study released Wednesday showed that using E30 in a Toyota
Camry and Ford Fusion improved gas mileage, it only increased each vehicle’s
performance by 1 percent.
Ron Lamberty, vice president and market development director for the American
Coalition for Ethanol, said the number is significant because it means less
gasoline would be used over time.
The biggest increase was recorded when a Chevy Impala Flex Fuel used E20
and increased performance by 15 percent.
The “E” number refers to the percent of ethanol in the fuel blend. The
comparisons were made to the same cars using gasoline with no ethanol.
“We have a growing biofuels and ethanol industry in our country,” said Sen.
Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. “With oil bobbing around $90 to $100 a barrel, it seems to
me there is an incentive to move forward.”
Dorgan was one of several officials who discussed the report at a Capitol Hill
meeting.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of North Dakota and
Minnesota State University, found that using ethanol reduces the amount of a
cancer-causing agent, soot and carbon monoxide in the atmosphere. Using
ethanol can reduce the risk of heart attacks and cancer for people living with 200
yards of busy roadways.
It’s important that Congress get moving on legislation so ethanol production can
be expanded throughout the United States, said Andy Karsner, assistant
secretary for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy in the
Department of Energy.
“Climate change is not going away,” Karsner said. “Our addiction to oil and our
access to oil is not going away. Now is the time to act. Your study brings us into
a greater focus.”
Producing ethanol can have negative effects, said Rick Cruse, a professor of
agronomy at Iowa State University and director of the Iowa Water Center.
The process can strip an area of its nutrients, erode soil or pollute water.
Growing corn is hard on soil, but when ethanol is produced from perennial plants,
such as grasses, an area retains more nutrients, he said in an interview.
“If it’s done right, it could be very positive,” Cruse said.
Sen. John Thune, R-S.D, said the study is promising and he hopes it will lead to
more research. The Environmental Protection Agency should approve higher
ethanol blends, he added.
“If we don’t grow the market, we are going to hit this wall,” Thune said, proposing
the federal government do research using higher ethanol blends.
Because this study tested only a few cars, more research is necessary, said
Brian Jennings, executive vice president of the American Coalition for Ethanol.
Jennings didn’t elaborate on who might fund or conduct the research.
Producing ethanol is tricky. The energy used to produce it is almost as great as
the energy ethanol releases, Cruse said. When materials such as perennial
plants are converted into ethanol, the energy output is greater.
“There is no black and white on what is good and what is bad,” he said.