Billed as environmentally friendly, alternative fuel is accessed by millions of drivers in 38 states outside New England. It generally costs pennies to 40 cents per gallon less than gasoline.
But scientists and green-policy advocates haven’t come to a consensus on the merits or demerits of E85. An alcohol derived from organic material, frequently corn, it is a blend of 15 percent gasoline and 85 percent ethanol.
The differences in opinion started with one insisting that E85 is cleaner, safer, and better than gasoline for weaning America off foreign oil. And the other though agrees ethanol masquerades as an environmentally friendly fuel, but also says it to be really worse for the atmosphere than gasoline.