Ethanol

Author:	Oswald Zachariah - Senior Policy Adviser/OMAFRA
Creation Date:	12 June 2003
Last Reviewed:	14 July 2006

Fuel ethanol is a high-octane alcohol produced from the fermentation of sugar or converted starch, usually from a grain feedstock.
Fuel ethanol is typically used as an additive to gasoline, blended at a 5% concentration with gasoline (E5) or a 10% concentration (E10).
Pure ethanol or high ethanol concentrations, such as 85% ethanol blended with 15% gasoline (E85), require modifications to the engine.

Relative to gasoline, burning ethanol lowers the exhaust emissions of carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and hydrocarbons.
Because ethanol helps to reduce these emissions, adding ethanol to gasoline results in an overall reduction in greenhouse gases.
The use of renewable feedstocks, such as grains and wood products, means that the production of ethanol is more sustainable.
The use of corn or other agricultural feedstocks for producing ethanol creates an additional market for these commodities.
Co-products from ethanol production provide another source of protein supplements for livestock.

Ethanol is currently exempt from the Provincial gasoline tax of 14.7 cents-per-litre and from the Federal excise tax of 10 cents-per-litre.
Ethanol-blended gasoline is available at several gasoline retailers in Ontario.
In Ontario, Commercial Alcohols Inc. produces approximately 150 million litres of ethanol in Ontario each year, using roughly 15 million bushels of corn.

For more information:
Toll Free: 1-877-424-1300
Local: (519) 826-4047
E-mail: ag.info.omafra@ontario.ca