In order to meet clean-air standards, ethanol must be blended with a special gasoline that's less prone to evaporation than conventional gasoline. This has slowed some deliveries,'' says Red Cavaney, CEO of the American Petroleum Institute. Besides complicating the refinery process, critics say ethanol-blended gas isn't the magic bullet to cut air pollution anyway. While ethanol does appear to reduce some undesirable emissions, it creates others. It ''can lead to higher emissions of nitrogen oxides, precursors to ozone formation,'' the Congressional Research Service report notes.
Ethanol also is exceedingly corrosive, causing handling and storage challenges.
It ate through auto fuel lines and ruined fuel-system parts in the 1970s, before vehicles were redesigned to resist that. Pipelines can't ship it because moisture in the lines corrupts ethanol, making it unfit for blending. Refiners in Texas can't just whip up a batch of ethanol-blended gasoline and ship it to Chicago in the pipeline. It has to be blended by refiners near where it's sold. On the plus side, ethanol does boost octane, which can prevent pinging in some engines.