Many believe that ethanol-blended fuel produces cleaner emissions than regular gasoline, but Canadian scientists have drawn opposite conclusions.
Scientists at Canada's Environment Ministry studied four vehicles of recent makes, testing their emissions in a range for driving conditions and temperatures. They find that ethanol- blended fuel cars are producing no less pollutants than normal gasoline cars, according to an unpublished federal report made available to Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
"Looking at tailpipe emissions, from a greenhouse gas perspective, there really isn't much difference between ethanol and gasoline," said Greg Rideout, head of the Environment Ministry 's toxic emissions research.
"Our results seemed to indicate that with today's vehicles, there's not a lot of difference at the tailpipe with greenhouse gas emissions."
The study found no statistical difference between the greenhouse gas emissions of regular unleaded fuel and 10 percent ethanol blended fuel. Although the study found a reduction in carbon monoxide, a pollutant that forms smog, emissions of some other gases, such as hydrocarbons, actually increased under certain conditions, CBC said in a report Saturday.
But Environment Minister John Baird and other ethanol proponents say people need to look at the big picture to see the advantages of ethanol cars.
As ethanol is made from a renewable resource, it produces fewer greenhouse gases when the entire production cycle, from gathering to refinement to emissions, is taken into account, they argue.