Many large farms in the Midwest have planted all or part of their land area to take advantage of the government subsidies which are offered for corn production to supply the ethanol production needs.
The main sources of sugar required to produce ethanol come from fuel or energy crops.
Some experts feel that emissions caused by the use of petroleum-based fuels to farm the corn and produce the ethanol may be greater than the emissions saved using ethanol as an alternative fuel.
About half of current ethanol use, however is as an octane booster in regular gasoline.
Aviation grade ethanol, (AGE-85) is an 85 percent ethanol blended fuel that is beginning to replace 100 octane low lead aviation gasoline, which has been the standard fuel for reciprocating engine aircraft since World War II.
