Tucson's Alternative Fuel Locations

I went by to see with my own eyes the Go Go Mart on Broadway near Tucson Blvd. and there were indeed two biodiesel fuel pumps. I wanted to talk to a manager or owner to see what made them decided to purchase the stuff but alas, no one was around except for the cashier. The only information he had for me was that someone was going around, presumably the people from RoadRunner, and offering businesses their chance to put biodiesel on their pumps. The guy from the Alternative Energy Expo said this was the only gas station in Tucson with biodiesel, but I wondered if there were any other alternative fuels available. My editor told me there are some out there that distribute ethanol, so I went looking.

These are the locations you can purchase E85 for you car in Tucson.
1015 S. Cherry: Arizona Petroleum
8601 E. Golf Links: C+T Oil
2710 N. First Ave
1701 N. Alvernon: C+T Oil

Ethanol is produced by fermentation. Yeast is added to the sugar solution, much like in the beer-brewing process, and the result is ethanol and carbon dioxide. While I was reading about how ethanol is used in alcohol, such as beer, it reminded me of that Simpsons episode where Homer envisions what it would be like to have an alcohol-fueled car ("one for you, one for me," check youtube for it). While hilarious, he probably would be dead after one sip of the stuff. Yeast used for brewing can handle at most 15% ethanol, the type you can buy at the aforementioned locations sell 85% ethanol. Pretty poisonous but Homer could probably still handle it.

Wikipedia says ethanol is the stuff that causes depression in our central nervous systems when we consume alcohol. Also on the ethanol page, they discuss the different types of alcohol, how each is fermented, and what product it is fermented from. For example, "rum is distilled from fermented molasses or sugarcane."

The American Coalition for Ethanol describes the benefits of using ethanol and the differences of types you can buy at the pump. It says that all vehicles can run on a 10% ethanol blend, and some, known as Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV), can run on anything up to 85% ethanol, including regular unleaded. Also cool about ethanol is that E85 has an octane rating of at least 105, according to AME website. So not only does E85 reduce all those pesky greenhouse gases, it also make your car perform roughly 22% better if you are filling at 87 octance.