Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ethanol?
Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is the same liquid alcohol found in beer and wine. It can be produced from any biological feedstock (e.g. cereal grain) that contains sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar, such as starch. Fuel-grade ethanol is anhydrous (i.e. 100% ethanol with virtually no water) and rendered unfit for human consumption (“denatured”) through the addition of gasoline. In Canada, fuel-grade ethanol is currently produced primarily from grains such as corn and wheat in a process similar to fermenting beer and distilling it to concentrate the ethanol. Ethanol can also be produced from cellulose materials such as agricultural and wood wastes, and fast-growing trees and grasses, although cellulosic ethanol technologies are still being developed and are not yet cost-competitive with conventional production processes.