A Comparative Assessment of Current Gasohol Fuel Economy Data

The use of ethyl alcohol as a motor fuel blending agent has been promoted as method for reducing the consumption of petroleum. A mixture of 90 volume percent unleaded regular gasoline and 10 volume percent anhydrous ethyl alcohol, popularly known as “Gasohol,” has probably received the most current interest. This report is a summary and analysis of all currently available comparative Gasohol fuel consumption data. Usable data were eventually obtained from sixteen (16) different Gasohol test programs conducted by various public and private organizations. Ten (10) of these programs were conducted with chassis dynamometers, and the remaining six (6) were road tests of varying duration. Data from each or the test programs were subjected to a statistical analysis to determine whether the results were significant. Finally, all of the data were combined in order to determine an overall mean Gasohol fuel economy effect. Results of the tests analyzed indicate that in closely controlled tests, Gasohol use yields a significant decrease in fuel economy.