Is Your Tailpipe Really Greener with Ethanol?

On March 30, the CBC reported on an unpublished Canadian federal study that seems to indicate there is no difference in tailpipe emissions between a 10 percent ethanol blended fuel and regular gasoline. Scientists studied four vehicles, testing for emissions under a range of driving conditions and temperatures.

"Looking at tailpipe emissions, from a greenhouse gas perspective, there really isn't much difference between ethanol and gasoline," said Greg Rideout, head of Environment Canada's toxic emissions research. "Our results seemed to indicate that with today's vehicles, there's not a lot of difference at the tailpipe with greenhouse gas emissions."

The report found a reduction in carbon monoxide, but other gases such as hydrocarbons actually increased.

Bill Rees, an ecology professor at the University of British Columbia was surprised by the findings and stated, "People are being conned into believing in a product and paying for it through their tax monies when there's no justifiable benefit and indeed many negative costs."

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CBC News