E10 fuel efficiency slightly lower, but lower cost

Editorial Matters: "There's a lot of negative hype about ethanol and Nick Wagoner tells skeptical auto mechanics not to believe it. The ethanol advocate's support for the increasingly popular fuel, however, doesn't blind him to a fact many motorists may not know.
'E10 can slightly drop mileage because ethanol does not have the energy content of gas,' said Wagoner, who works as an automotive and alternative fuels instructor at Central Community College in Columbus. His workshops are sponsored by the Nebraska Ethanol Board.
The ethanol industry's own recent studies have reached the same conclusion. A study by the American Coalition for Ethanol and released late last month found vehicles filled with E10, a fuel blended with 10 percent ethanol, averaged 1.5 percent lower mileage than those with regular unleaded. Previous studies by other groups have also concluded ethanol blends produce lower mileage."