Ethanol in IndyCar and IndyPro

The IndyCar Series, which has been recognized for its technical leadership in automobile racing, is now the motorsports leader in renewable and environmentally responsible fuel produced in America.

The Honda V-8 engines in 2006 are powered by an ethanol/methanol blend (methanol had been the fuel since the Indy Racing League’s inception). In 2007, 100 percent fuel-grade ethanol will flow through the IndyCar systems, with IndyPro running on a part-ethanol, part-gasoline mix.

The long-term message is clear: If 650-horsepower IndyCar Series cars that cover the length of a football field in 1 second can run safely and effectively on ethanol, so can your automobile with reduced emissions as an add-on benefit.

Ethanol – C2H5OH – has been made since ancient times by the fermentation of sugars. Zymase, an enzyme from yeast, changes the simple sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide. All beverage alcohol and more than half of industrial ethanol is still made by this process. Aside from fuel – internal combustion engines and alcohol – ethanol is used in making perfume and paints and lacquer.

Fast facts:
- By the end of the year, the Midwest-centered ethanol industry is expected to have the capacity to produce 4 billion gallons of ethanol annually – up 109 percent from five years ago but a fraction of the 140 billion gallons of gasoline consumed. By 2012, capacity is expected to reach 7.5 billion as more processing plants spring up to meet the projected need.

- Benefits to farmers also would be realized. One ethanol plant in Minnesota processes 11,750 bushels of grain a day to produce 33,990 gallons of ethanol and 95 tons of high-protein livestock feed.

- According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, ethanol’s high oxygen content reduces emissions of ozone-depleting carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide and sulphur dioxide.

- Ethanol is a drinkable alcohol, the active ingredient in beer, wine and spirits. But fuel-grade ethanol is denatured with gasoline (about 3-5 percent), so ingesting the racing variety would be hazardous to the health of anyone taking a swig.

- Henry Ford’s Model T Ford was built to run on ethanol. Its high octane rating delivers strong performance by helping engines resist detonation so they can run higher compression ratios.