The Case Against Ethanol
E85 May Actually Cost You More per Gallon at the Pump

Here is some analysis on why Ethanol is a bad deal.

Just remember: E85 has about 83,260 Btu/Gal.
Gasoline has about 114,000 Btu/Gal.

Therefore E85 has only 73% of the energy of a gallon of gasoline.

Hypothetically if your car could get 100 miles per gallon of gasoline it would only get 73 miles per gallon with E85.

Therefore, if E85 is $2.75 and gasoline is $3.00 per gallon which is the better deal?
Many think buying E85 is the better deal because it costs less per gallon. However if we do the math it is a TERRIBLE proposition to fill up with E85 under this situation.

We must divide $2.75 by .73 to arrive at the true price for the equivalent amount of energy found in a gallon of gasoline.

$2.75/ .73 = $3.76

So if you fill up with E85 you are really paying an equivalent of $3.76 per gallon of gasoline. Not such a good deal is it?

You'll end up paying an extra 25% if you fill up with the E85. This further erodes your buying power as an individual and sucks the energy (no pun intended) right out of the economy. When you figure the tax dollars that go into subsidizing the ethanol in each gallon of E85 the costs are even higher.