Minnesota, which has required automotive fuel to contain 20 percent ethanol by 2013 (pending EPA approval), is out with a study purporting to show that such a high ethanol content will provide power similar to that of gasoline and won't hurt your car.

Be very, very skeptical. Ethanol contains much less energy than gas. E20 would cause a 3.5 percent loss of engine energy compared with that of E10, the blend sold in many gas stations now, a Minnesota State University prof has calculated. And in USA Today, car companies say using E20 might damage vehicles and void warranties:

Automakers also have doubts that it is as benign as E10. They are running trials, but they say they do not have enough data on how risky E20 is to components and whether it would change emissions in unwanted ways.

"Our vehicles are able to handle E10, but to move to E20 there are technical issues. It's not that simple," says Ford Motor (F) spokeswoman Kristen Kinley.

General Motors (GM) spokesman Alan Adler says that in E20 tests in Australia, "40% of the vehicles sustained (catalytic converter) damage, which allowed essentially unchecked tailpipe emissions."

"We believe there's not data sufficient to prove that all vehicles will function OK with E20," says Reg Modlin, director of environmental affairs for Chrysler. "It's not a legal fuel, and it would void the warranty."

From the Minnesota propaganda:

Increasing the amount of renewable ethanol blended into gasoline from 10 percent to 20 percent does not present problems for current vehicles or fuel dispensing equipment and provides similar power and performance, according to a new study released Wednesday by the State of Minnesota.

Using 40 pairs of vehicles commonly found on American roads, a year-long research effort found that increasing ethanol blends from 10 percent (E10) to 20 percent (E20) in a gallon of gasoline provided an effective fuel across a range of tests focusing on drivability and materials compatibility.