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Ethanol as a fuel or even a fuel additive is a very complicated issue. The possible impacts environmentally, economically,and the probable effects it can have on our food supply are quite difficult to quantify. It seems as an oxidizer in petroleum based fuels, there can be no question that it is a far better choice than mtbe which is a nasty polluter. Cars can be engineered to burn e85 almost as efficiently (mi/gal) as gas cars burn gas today, employing much higher compression ratios along with more advanced ignition timing etc. On the other hand I would hate to see ribeyes at $20.00/lb. Perhaps its use could be a temporary bridge. But as large of a problem we have gotten ourselves into we probably need to develope this as one small part of the solution.

Talk about strawmen. There is no way we could all be driving E85, anytime. Ethanol is projected to replace 20% of gasoline, max. However, if the Muslims slap us with a fuel embargo, ethanol will seem like liquid titanium and all of the critics will be glad we have it. Nothing is perfect.