The Journal Star ran a good article on ethanol this morning. I applaud the LJS for reminding consumers that E10 unleaded is typically not as efficient as regular unleaded gasoline, though it can still be cost effective. But one thing really bugged me about the article: the basis for many of the calculations made in the article, that E10 unleaded decreases gas mileage by 1.5%, comes from a single study (PDF) by the American Coalition for Ethanol. With all due respect to the integrity of the folks at the American Coalition for Ethanol, I'm going to take the results of their study with a very large grain of salt. Surely other studies on E10's effect on gas mileage have been conducted. I'm a little disappointed -- but sadly, not surprised -- that the Journal Star didn't make an effort to look for comparable studies from a non-industry source.
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Last year when Premium was about $.20 more per gallon than E10 I experimented with filling my tank with it and found I saved money. I did this for several tanks until the end of the semester when my bank balance was so I traded off the savings in fuel for extra spending money. I also discovered the BP Amoco Premium was a couple of miles per gallon better than the most expensive fuel at other stations.
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