Q. My automobile service adviser said ethanol was harmful to my truck’s engine because it’s a corrosive. If that is accurate, is ethanol used in jet fuel?
-- Bill McDaniels, Atlanta
A. Ethanol is usually added to gasoline to reduce pollution over straight gasoline, Jen Stutsman, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Energy, told Q&A on the News. It serves as an oxygenate that the EPA says "can boost gasoline's octane quality, enhance combustion and reduce exhaust emissions." Stutsman wrote in an e-mail that while ethanol is corrosive to certain materials, the effects of ethanol are well known and those materials are typically avoided in today's vehicles. Cars today are compatible with the up to 10 percent ethanol blends sold at gasoline stations and 2001 or later cars have been approved to use up to E15, which is starting to be sold across the country. Specially designed flexible fuel vehicles can use up to 85 percent ethanol and have special materials to make them compatible with E85. But jet fuel does not contain ethanol. "Jets operate on a completely different fuel similar to diesel fuel, and the specifications for purity are quite strict," Stutsman wrote. "Small aircraft typically use gasoline, but it is special aviation-grade gasoline that contains no ethanol."
Lori Johnston wrote this column. Do you have a question about the news? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or e-mail q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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