Ethanol is a renewable fuel consisting of 99 per cent pure alcohol. Fuel ethanol can be made from any feedstock that contains sugars and/or starch and it is our only viable alternative to oil.
Fuel Ethanol
Renewable
Ethanol is traditionally made from grains and sugar cane, but the development of cellulosic ethanol will widen feedstock options to include fast-growing grasses, agricultural waste, forestry residues and municipal solid waste.
Clean-Burning
Substituting just five per cent of Canada’s gasoline with ethanol will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the same amount as taking one million cars off the road each year. The Canadian Renewable Fuels Association made this calculation using data from the GHGenius, a tool developed by Natural Resources Canada to identify the amount of greenhouse gases generated by traditional and alternative fuels.
Fully Biodegradable
Ethanol is completely water soluble. Just one litre of gasoline can contaminate one million litres of groundwater, but if the Exxon Valdez had been carrying ethanol when it wrecked, the ethanol would have dissipated within hours.
Efficient
Natural Resources Canada confirms that ethanol’s production process is efficient enough to produce 55 percent more energy than it consumes.
Affordable
Without ethanol blended fuel savings, consumers would be paying more to fill up their cars according to estimates by Merrill Lynch.
Available
Greenfield’s ethanol is currently available in gasoline blends at over 1,300 gas stations. Most cars on the road today can run on blends of up to 10 per cent ethanol without engine modifications and many newer “flex fuel” vehicles can accept blends of up to 85 per cent ethanol.
