Does ethanol use increase air pollution?
No. In fact, there can be no increase in emission from ethanol-blended fuels; it’s the law. Due to its high oxygen content, ethanol burns more completely than ordinary unleaded gasoline and reduces harmful emissions. Consider these facts: Ethanol contains 35 percent more oxygen than regular unleaded, so it burns cleaner, reduces the potency of toxic additives and reduces harmful tailpipe emissions. Ethanol reduces tailpipe carbon monoxide emissions by as much as 30 percent. Ethanol reduces exhaust VOC (volatile organic compounds) emissions by 12 percent. Ethanol reduces particulate matter emissions by more than 25 percent. Particulate matter has been found to penetrate deeply into human lungs. Using E-85 can curb the net emission of greenhouse gasses by as much as 39 percent to 46 percent. The Argonne National Laboratory has demonstrated that using ethanol produces 32 percent fewer emissions of greenhouse gases than gasoline for the same distance traveled.
