Study Casts Doubt on EPA’s Plan to Increase Ethanol Content in Gasoline

A New York Times article discusses a new study that finds that a proposed plan by the EPA increasing the amount of ethanol mixed into gasoline from 10 percent to 15 percent would damage cars and increase pollution.

According to the article:

Half of the engines tested so far have had some problems, said C. Coleman Jones, the biofuel implementation manager at General Motors, who spoke on behalf of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers.

More ethanol will confuse exhaust control systems and make engines run too hot, destroying catalytic converters, automakers say. It can also damage engine cylinders, they say.

The article also notes that higher ethanol content will likely produce more nitrogen oxides, an ingredient of smog.