What is fuel ethanol
Fuel ethanol (or bioethanol, as it is called in Europe) is alcohol produced from sugars extracted from starch crops (such as corn or wheat), sugar crops (such as sugar beet or sugar cane) or lignocellulosic biomass (such as straw or fibers). The alcohol is used as transport fuel and commonly serves as a gasoline substitute, although it can also be used in modified diesel engines. Fuel ethanol can be mixed with gasoline up to a ratio of about 10% (depending on the vehicle), which can then be used as fuel with no modifications to the engine required.
When ethanol is distilled it still contains approximately 4% water. For some applications, such as mixing ethanol with high volumes of gasoline, the ethanol must then be further dehydrated to produce anhydrous ethanol, i.e. ethanol with less than 1% water. Hydrous ethanol (the distilled ethanol product with approximately 4% water content) is suitable for high-blend ethanol mixtures such as E85.
