Hawaii Ethanol Fuel Information

While we have been studying ethanol fuel uses for years, many consumers are unaware that they have already been using it for years.  In many nations, ethanol is already blended with traditional fossil fuels, such as gasoline.  The percentage is usually small, and pending on the laws you may or may not be aware when purchasing the gas.  In the USA, for example, gas stations will post (although sometimes small and relatively obscure locations) the amount of ethanol in the gasoline you purchase.  Other nations may or may not show this.  Some nations, such as Brazil have fully embraced ethanol fuel, and gas is mostly ethanol based.

For the rest of us, we are still working with ethanol blended fuel.  The blends can be small (7% or so) or relatively large (20% or higher).  This mixture is used mostly for two reasons.  First, mixing ethanol with traditional gasoline lowers the overall price of the gas for the consumer, and helps to maximize profits for the retailer and supplier.  Another reason we will see ethanol mixtures is because it helps to keep cleaner burning fuel.  In California, for example, the ethanol content of most gases is more than it is in South Carolina.  A third reason we see different ethanol fuel mixtures is a way of test marketing and testing capabilities and effects.  There is only so much we can tell in laboratories and on test tracks.  By unleashing different mixtures after testing but only to localized regions, we can better see the effects of the mixture which helps to modify future plans.

Since about 1999, most common vehicles made have been manufactured to be dual-fuel vehicles.  These are vehicles with engines capable of burning fuels that have 0% ethanol content all the way to 100% ethanol content without modification.  With most of these engines, however, we see that ethanol and ethanol blended fuels can affect efficiency of the fuel.  A gasoline with a 10% ethanol content usually has approximately a 2-3% reduction in performance.  Higher bases, such as E85 (or 85% ethanol) show a severe difference in performance, 20-25% reduction.  Pure ethanol shows up to a 34% decline in performance.  Tests have shown engines designed to work purely with ethanol, however, will get better performance than dual-fuel engines.