Rediscovering Home-Grown Fuel

New mileage for an old idea: gasohol

In search of ways to beat the oil-import bind, some policymakers are beginning to look at an idea for motor fuel that was tried by American farmers in the 1930s: a mixture of 90% gasoline and 10% alcohol known as gasohol. Already it is selling briskly at about 500 filling stations in the Midwest Plains states, where the corn from which alcohol is commonly made is abundant. The blend is hailed by its champions as a wonder that yields about the same mileage as unleaded gasoline and offers an ever renewable source of energy. Moreover, gasohol could, if it replaced gasoline as a standard fuel, cut perhaps as much as 10% from the nation's oil-import bill, which last year reached a staggering $40 billion. Now the fuel has won an endorsement from Jimmy Carter.

In Dallas two weeks ago, the President said that he saw gasohol as a "high priority" fuel alternative and would push to make it more widely available. He was expected to mention the fuel favorably in his energy address this week, and could well announce stepped-up research on gasohol production and measures to place it in general distribution.

A number of Department of Energy officials say that Carter's interest in gasohol is largely "symbolic," that he is talking it up mainly to provide some good news amid the Administration's talk of decontrolling crude oil and letting gas prices rise. Yet the presidential push will surely add to gasohol's growing popularity in Washington. Prodded by promoters, Congress last fall passed a law exempting the fuel from the 4-c--per-gal. federal tax on gasoline. In January, the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it would permit service stations to sell gasohol instead of unleaded gas.

The staunchest backers of gasohol are farmers. If gasohol were to become a standard motor fuel, the nation's production of grain--corn, barley, oats and the like --would have to be increased by at least 50%. But, as gasohol advocates point out, the Government now encourages farmers to hold down their grain crops, so expanding production would not be too difficult. Moreover, alcohol can be produced from a variety of infinitely renewable sources. Though U.S. distillers now use mainly corn as their alcohol base, experts assert that just about any substance with a high starch or sugar content could be used, including wheat, potatoes and sugar cane.

Still, gasohol has its drawbacks and detractors, notably among the major oil companies. The Agriculture Department, critics note, estimates that it takes more energy to grow and harvest the grain and distill the alcohol from it than the alcohol produces when burned. For every 4 B.T.U.s of energy that are used to make alcohol, only 2.5 B.T.U.s are generated. Advocates argue that is not the point. Alcohol, they say, offers a way to boost stockpiles of liquid fuels, which are all that can be used in autos and which are in shortest supply.

A serious problem is gasohol's high price. The pure, 200-proof alcohol used in the mixture costs $1.49 per gal. wholesale, while unleaded gas is about 47-c-. Even in Iowa, where the state has removed the tax on gasohol, the fuel costs 76.5-c- at the pump, about 2-c- more than unleaded. In other states, where the fuel tax is imposed, the spread between gasohol and gasoline can range up to 6-c- per gal.

The cost could be reduced by the development of more efficient ways to produce alcohol. At present, the only proven technique is fermentation, basically the same, slow method that has been used for centuries to make liquor. Gasohol proponents have long been trying to get the government to finance the development of newer methods, and with Carter's help they may succeed.

Even with present technology, gasohol could eventually become competitive with other fuels if gasoline prices continue to rise. In Brazil, where regular gas costs $1.50 per gal., the government has launched a strong program to have all motorists use gasohol by 1982. Skepticism about gasohol still exists at the top levels of the DOE. A yet-to-be-released department study estimates that, under existing conditions, gasohol will account for less than 1% of the motor fuel consumed in the U.S. by 1985. That could change as distilling technology improves and oil prices rise. As one DOE official notes: "Right now, whatever our misgivings, our philosophy is to go with anything we've got."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.