What is natural gas fuel for vehicles?
Ethanol comes from any starch or sugar-based feedstock, the most common in America being corn (sugar cane is preferred in Latin America). It’s produced for vehicle use by breaking down the plant matter (corn, sugar cane, cheese whey, potato waste) and fermenting it to produce alcohol. It’s basically moonshine, but it’s “denatured” to prevent human consumption.

History of natural gas for cars
Ethanol’s been around forever. It’s the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic beverages and has been used in every culture in history. The synthetic, fuel-based form was developed in 1827 through a few independent scientists.

However, exorbitant taxes on industrial alcohol during the Civil War prevented further research and distribution. From 1908, Model T Fords and other early cars were easily adapted to run on ethanol, but in 1920, during the Prohibition, sellers of the bio-fuel were accused of teaming up with moonshiners. Ethanol development got knocked off the bio-fuel radar entirely until the 1990s when global pollution and dependence on foreign oil became concerns.

Using natural gas in your vehicle
Ethanol also comes in various blends (the name/percentage similar to biodiesel). E10, also known as “gasohol,” is 10% ethanol and 90% can be used in all gasoline-fuelled vehicles; E85 (85% ethanol; 15% gasoline) can only be used in flex-fuel vehicles.

Ethanol Pros and Cons
Pros:

Cons:

Resources:
www.feueleconomy.gov, “Alternative Fuels,” “Natural Gas”
Consumer Energy Council of America, “Bio-Fuels Facts”