Special Reports

Ethanol Is Cleaner Than Gas, But Is It Cheaper?

CHICAGO (CBS) ― While ethanol may be good for the environment, it may not save you money at the pump.

Ethanol producers collect billions of dollars in subsidies from American taxpayers each year, promising in exchange a home-grown, cleaner and cheaper fuel.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery, though, finds that promise to be false, at least here in the Chicago area.

In Wednesday night's Truth in Politics, he reports on prices in the city and suburbs that cheat consumers who buy E-85 ethanol fuel.

Rich Bratt spent more than $100 filling up on the 85% corn-based ethanol E-85 fuel Wednesday evening at a North Side service station. Like many who've paid extra for their flexible fuel vehicles, he thought ethanol was a bargain.

"Now, the more gas goes up, the more the differential is there to justify it," Bratt said.

But, in fact, ethanol has one-third less energy than gasoline, meaning your car can't drive as far on a full tank of ethanol as it can on a full tank of gas.

And though it may appear cheaper, Bratt and virtually everyone else who buys E-85 in the Chicago area is victim of a corn con.

With gasoline at $4.43 a gallon at 4070 N. Clark St., E-85 should be about $3.20 for drivers to get their money's worth, but it was $3.93 a gallon. Driving 15,000 miles at that price, you would save $609 by using gasoline instead of E-85.

"It almost flabbergasts me, all that information," Bratt said.

Though South Sider Barack Obama's been one of ethanol's biggest backers, his family traded their E-85 using GMC Yukon in for a Ford Escape Hybrid, which does not use E-85.

A spokesman said Obama believes part of what's gone wrong for E-85 in the Chicago area is that very few stations in the city and suburbs actually sell it.

With little competition, those stations can charge whatever they want. Obama has proposed offering station owners a tax credit covering 30% of the cost of converting their pumps to E-85.

Bratt said, "There's definitely more that needs to be done by the people we elect."

Obama has offered a $150 billion energy plan. Noting that diverting corn to ethanol has contributed to rising food prices worldwide, he's proposing to fund research on a new generation of bio-fuels that would use grasses and other plants.

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