University Of Central Florida Running Fleet Vehicles On E85

Beginning in May, University of Central Florida’s fleet vehicles have access to a 12,000-gallon E85 fueling station.

E85, an alternative fuel made up of eighty-five percent ethanol combined with fifteen percent gasoline, is a renewable biofuel made, in part, from corn. E85 produces about fifty percent fewer emissions than gasoline, is water-soluble, biodegradable, and less toxic.

Additionally, E85 can be domestically produced, reducing the United States’ dependence on foreign sources of energy.

The station holds enough E85 fuel for all of UCF’s forty-five flex-fuel fleet vehicles to fill up more than sixteen times, but currently is dedicated solely to the University's fleet needs and is not open to the general public.

E85 can only be used in designated flex-fuel vehicles designed to run on different blends of fuel. The vehicles also can run on gasoline and be filled up at regular stations, but adding gasoline to a tank containing E85 will dilute the amount of ethanol in the tank.

UCF’s E85 station is one of fifty in Florida, with the University of Florida being the only other university in the state with an on-campus ethanol fuel station.

For more information on UCF’s sustainability efforts, go to http://sustainable.ucf.edu/.