Methanol-based fuels are used in some race cars and model aeroplanes. Methanol is also called methyl alcohol or wood alcohol, the latter because it was formerly produced from the distillation of wood. It is also known by the name methyl hydrate. Ethanol Ethanol, also known as grain alcohol or ethyl alcohol, is commonly found in alcoholic beverages. However, it may also be used as a fuel, most often in combination with gasoline. For the most part, it is used in a 9:1 ratio of gasoline to ethanol to reduce the negative environmental effects of gasoline. There is increasing interest in the use of a blend of 85% fuel ethanol blended with 15% gasoline. This fuel blend called E85 has a higher fuel octane than most premium types of gasoline. When used in a modern Flexible fuel vehicle, it delivers more performance to the gasoline it replaces at the expense of higher fuel consumption due to ethanol's lesser specific energy content. Ethanol for use in gasoline and industrial purposes may be considered a fossil fuel because it is often synthesized from the petroleum product ethylene, which is cheaper than production from fermentation of grains or sugarcane. Butanol Butanol is an alcohol which can be used as a fuel in most gasoline internal combustion engines without engine modification. It is typically a product of the fermentation of biomass by the bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum (also known as the Weizmann organism). This process was first delineated by Chaim Weizmann in 1916 for the production of acetone from starch for making cordite, a smokeless gunpowder. The advantages of butanol are its high octane rating (over 100) and high energy content, only about 10% lower than gasoline, and subsequently about 50% more energy-dense than ethanol, 100% more so than methanol. Butanol's only major disadvantages are its high flashpoint (35 °C or 95 °F), toxicity (note that toxicity levels exist but are not precisely confirmed), and the fact that the fermentation process for renewable butanol emits a foul odour. The Weizmann organism can only tolerate butanol levels up to 2% or so, compared to 14% for ethanol and yeast. Making butanol from oil produces no such odour, but the limited supply and environmental impact of oil usage defeat the purpose of alternative fuels. The cost of butanol is about $1.25–$1.32 per kilogram ($0.57-$0.58 per pound or $4 approx. per US gallon). Butanol is much more expensive than