Will Car Run On 100 Percent Ethanol
Currently, ethanol is mixed with gasoline to be used as fuel for running vehicles. This blend of gas and ethanol is commonly called as ‘gasohol’.
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Experiments are being conducted to test the efficiency and durability of using 100% ethanol. However, one needs to keep in mind that if 100% ethanol is sold at gas stations, people would end up buying alcohol for self consumption!
Racing cars have made use of unblended ethanol to run engines. Last year, for the Indy 500, cars ran on pure ethanol. Earlier pure methanol was being used in the racing cars for Indy 500. But the drivers, who raced on ethanol, did not complain of inferior engine performance. Hence Indy 500 has decided to use 100% ethanol as their official fuel. What’s more, ethanol doesn’t cause any pollution. However, it’s only in racing cars that the use of straight ethanol has been done. Passenger cars still use ethanol mixed with gasoline. Ethanol industry owners are expecting that successful use of ethanol in racing cars will prompt the common man to look at E100 as an alternative to run his car on. There is no law that states ethanol cannot be used in its pure form. But for this to happen, engines need to be modified. The engines in their present form can optimally utilize ethanol between E20 and E30. Some can even use up to E65. Ethanol has a high octane value of 121. Gas has octane value of 87. This means that ethanol burns faster which is good news for engines. But, high octane value means starting problems especially in colder regions. Hence gasoline needs to be added to ethanol. As a result, 100% ethanol can not be used to run vehicles.
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Alcohols like methanol and ethanol are being studied and experimented upon to be used as alternative fuels. In the face of oil crisis and increasing prices, people are using ethanol as fuel to run vehicles. It is a renewable fuel since it is made from plants and is cost effective. It is even easy to produce. Many are making ethanol at their homes! 
