Gasoline and Ethanol

Explore the fuel price and emissions intensity of finished gasoline and ethanol fuels, which are a blend of ethanol and gasoline blendstock.

See the Ethanol page for detailed information about the ethanol production pathways and the blendstock for oxygenate blending (BOB) section for detailed information about the blendstock.

Emissions estimates use the Argonne National Laboratory's GREET model (Wang et al., 2022). The underlying source for a value in the table can be seen by placing your mouse cursor over that value. The data sources are also cited—with hyperlinked linked references—in the Key Assumptions section below. 

For additional information about scenarios and metrics, see the Definitions page.

Key Assumptions

The data and estimates presented here are based on the following key assumptions:

• Fuel Price: The fuel price (e.g., Lowest Cost, Lowest Emissions) is associated with a single year. Because we do not provide a time-series trajectory, here we show fuel price at a frozen level for all years so we can offer a range of fuel price values. In the levelized cost of driving and emissions charts, this approach clearly distinguishes effects of fuels from those of vehicle technologies, because fuels remain constant while vehicle technologies change over time.
• Fuel Price Composition: The finished fuel price estimates represent retail equivalent prices, and they include Taxes and Distribution Cost.
• Retrospective Component Estimates: The price and emissions estimates shown above are generally calculated from the respective Ethanol and BOB component estimates. (See those pages for details about the fuel blend components.) The estimates are calculated based on the specified blend volume, if applicable. Refer to the pages for blendstock components, and place your mouse cursor over a value in the table to see specific citations. 
• Wholesale Fuel Calculations: For conventional gasoline, reformulated gasoline, and high-blend ethanol fuel, we calculate the wholesale fuel price estimate (in dollars per gallon) based on the wholesale prices of starch ethanol and BOBs and the assumed ethanol volume content: 10% ethanol for E10, 15% ethanol for conventional E15 gasoline, and 83% ethanol for E85. 
• Retail Price Conversions: To convert wholesale prices to retail prices, we add the Taxes and Distribution Cost. Prices are converted to dollars per gasoline gallon equivalent using the calculated finished fuel lower heating value (based on lower heating values of ethanol and gasoline blendstock and the ethanol volume blending assumptions) and the lower heating value of gasoline. The Lower Heating Values are from GREET 2021 (Wang et al., 2021).
• Gasoline Retail Price Reference: For reference, the 2022 motor gasoline retail price reported by the U.S. Energy Information Administration is $3.95/gal (nominal dollars), which includes taxes and represents the sales weighted-average price for all grades (including conventional and reformulated) (EIA, 2023).
• Conventional E10 with Starch Ethanol: For conventional E10 with starch ethanol, we also provide a range of 2050 fuel prices to explore the sensitivity of levelized cost of driving to gasoline prices. The 2050 conventional E10 with starch ethanol estimate is from EIA's Annual Energy Outlook 2021 (EIA, 2021). Refer to the pages for blendstock components and place your mouse cursor over a value in the table to see specific citations. Conventional gasoline (E10) 2050 is from the Reference case, and the high price and low price estimates are from the Annual Energy Outlook High oil price and Low oil price cases respectively.
• Emissions Estimates: The emissions estimates are calculated based on the ethanol volume assumptions and the respective ethanol and BOB emissions factors. 
• Fuels References: See blendstock pages for ethanol and BOB for a full description of fuels references. Those for ethanol include (EIA, 2021), (Elgowainy et al., 2016), (Dutta et al., 2011), (Wang et al., 2022), (Lee et al., 2021), (Humbird et al., 2011), (Tao et al., 2014), and (Dunn et al., 2013). Those for BOB include (EIA, 2020),  (EIA, 2021) , and (Wang et al., 2022).

See Selected Fuel Pathways to see the lowest CO₂e emissions fuel, lowest cost, and baseline pathways in the Transportation ATB for Gasoline Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles and Gasoline Hybrid Electric Vehicles. 

The data downloads include additional details of assumptions and calculations for each metric.

Definitions

For detailed definitions, see:

CO2e

NOx

SOx

PM

Conventional E10 gasoline

Conventional E15 gasoline

Fuel price

High-blend ethanol fuel

Reformulated E10 gasoline

Reformulated E15 gasoline

Scenarios

Well-to-tank emissions

Well-to-wheels emissions

References

The following references are specific to this page; for all references in this ATB, see References.