The oil industry collects 51 cents in federal subsidies for every gallon of ethanol it mixes with gas and sells as E10

BusinessWeek reports that oil companies are trying to stop the spread of E85, a fuel that is 85% ethanol and 15% gas (Big Oil's Big Stall On Ethanol, 1 Oct 2007).

Some academics claim that ethanol takes more energy to produce than it supplies. This is contested; but even a UC Davis study says the energy used to produce ethanol is about even with what it generates, and that cleaner emissions would be offset by the loss of pasture and rainforest to corn-growing.

There's also a nasty little problem with E85: drivers apparently lose about 25% in fuel economy with E85.