Which costs more, gasoline or ethanol?
With oil topping $135 a barrel, ethanol must be cheaper than gasoline, right? Not if you adjust for the fact that ethanol has about 30% less energy content than gasoline by volume.
The American Automobile Association monitors daily average national prices for gasoline and E-85, motor fuel blended with 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. When the ethanol fuel-economy penalty is taken into account, E-85 cost $4.704 a gallon compared to $4.486 for premium gasoline and $4.078 for regular gasoline. Here’s today’s chart from the AAA’s Web site:
| Regular | Mid | Premium | Diesel | E85 | **E85 MPG/BTU adjusted price |
| Current Avg. | $4.078 | $4.331 | $4.486 | $4.795 | $3.575 | $4.704 |
| Yesterday Avg. | $4.080 | $4.333 | $4.488 | $4.797 | $3.562 | $4.688 |
| Month Ago Avg. | $3.793 | $4.029 | $4.173 | $4.512 | $3.154 | $4.151 |
| Year Ago Avg. | $3.005 | $3.191 | $3.307 | $2.893 | NA | NA |