Ethanol promises to be a fuel that will reduce our dependence on oil, but when used in the

gas tank of a car, is it really very useful as a substitute? Does it have the energy content

of gasoline? Can it provide competitive efficiency? Today we're going to look at these questions

and more as we analyze ethanol, which is coming into more and more use as a fuel additive

or substitute. That's today Unskeptoid.

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You're listening to Skeptoid. I'm Brian Dunning from Skeptoid.com. The miracle of ethanol.

Once again, I'm going to be politically incorrect and point my skeptical eye at something that comes

from nature. Ethanol. Ethanol largely produced from corn in the United States, but also able to

be produced from a variety of other organic substances, is increasingly being offered as the

alternative fuel of choice for drivers. I'd like to start off by beating my detractors to the punch.

Since I'm going to criticize ethanol in this episode, I'm going to be called all sorts of names,

but mainly I'm going to be accused of being on the payroll of the big oil companies who are afraid

of losing business to nature's wonder fuel. So, yes, I'm a corporate stooge, and I'm secretly

getting big bucks onto the table for doing this podcast. Okay? I get it. Save your breath.

There's a tendency when discussing alternative fuels for cars to only look at the tank to wheel

part of the equation. Tank to wheel refers to the part of the fuel cycle involving the burning of

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