Depending on your location in the U.S. perhaps you’ve seen it or perhaps you have not. A local gas station adds a new pump offering E85. An environmentally friendly, carbon neutral renewable fuel source harvested domestically! Naturally, you consider using this newfangled fuel in your own car instead of the usual petroleum grade. Word of caution here: DON’T DO IT! Unless you’re one of the few people driving something called a flex-fuel vehicle or you’ve modified your car, it could damage your engine.
E85 is great stuff if you’ve got the right setup. You may not know this but many normal fuels actually contain a lower percentage additive of Ethanol already. In fact, most cars on the road today in the U.S. today can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol without issue! E85 however is a different story and unlike Diesel fuel, the pump nozzle for E85 isn’t a different diameter to help guide users from making the mistake of filling up a non-E85 car.
In addition to E85, which is a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline, another biofuel is becoming available at some filling stations. It is called “biodiesel”. Although both E85 and biodiesel are made from biomass, there are major differences between biodiesel and ethanol. Whereas E85 comes primarily from corn, biodiesel is manufactured mostly from crops like soybeans, rapeseed, and peanut oil and it can be used in diesel engines with little to no modification. Biodiesel tends to be thicker than regular diesel so certain cars work better than others. Although biodiesel can be used in its pure form, it usually blended with standard diesel fuel for easier starting, especially in cold environments. Blends are indicated by the abbreviation Bxx, where xx is the percentage of biodiesel in the mixture. For example, the most common blend is B20, or 20% biodiesel to 80% petroleum-based diesel. So, B100 refers to pure biodiesel.
Ethanol and biodiesel fuels produce fewer emissions. For further details checkout this PDF.
It is worth noting that these biofuels burn differently than conventional gasoline. This is where putting it in your gas tank can burn your wallet. Biodiesel can be used in any equipment with a diesel engine without making any modifications to the engine. However, even diesel owners must watch for signs that fuel filters and systems are clogging, particularly when biodiesel is first used. Biodiesel can act as a detergent, which means that it can loosen deposits that are stuck in fuel lines and the fuel tank, which in turn could clog fuel filters, injectors or other parts of the fuel system.
Vehicles that run on gasoline have spark-ignition engines. These engines use spark plugs to ignite the fuel. They are designed to use very thin, explosive fuel. Diesel engines are compression-ignition engines. Instead of a spark plug, they use high compression to ignite the fuel. They are generally heavier, sturdier engines that are designed to run on thick, viscous fuels like vegetable oil-derived biodiesel. That’s why some people perceive the smell of biodiesel cars like that of french fries.
If you want to ride on the latest alternative fuel, you’ll have to wait until your car can withstand the ride. And be sure to check the label before you put the spigot in your gas tank. The wrong fuel is a disaster for your car – and your budget.
