Surplus energy from ethanol. This surplus has been increasing as refineries have modernized (late 1990s) and consume progressively less energy to produce the same amount of fuel.

Ethanol is also liquid at room temperature - therefore a 5-gallon fuel tank for ethanol is featherweight plastic.

Ethanol can be used in both fuel cells and regular engines. It can be mixed with gasoline up to 15% without any modifications to the engine. Ethanol burns cooler and keeps the engine clean, making it last longer and require less maintenance. Flexible Fuel Vehicles can burn ethanol or gasoline, or any combination of the two fuels. These vehicles are produced now, in fact many owners aren't aware that their cars are flexible fuel-equipped. Conventional internal-combustion engines can even use pre-heating to allow for cold-weather ethanol combustion.

Ethanol is already available at hundreds of refuelling stations across North America. Billions of gallons of ethanol are already produced annually for the transportation industry. The same can't be said about hydrogen.

Ethanol can be made from cellulose, the most abundant substance made by living things - plants. Biomass-sourced ethanol does not add any net greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.