Matt Buehler, age 15, of Prescott, Ariz., for his question:

JUST WHAT IS GASOHOL?

Gasohol is a blend of nine parts unleaded gasoline and one part alcohol (ethanol or methanol) that is used extensively in some countries to reduce the cost of gasoline as auto fuel. Raw materials for methanol production are coal and organic wastes, especially waste wood products, while ethanol may be distilled from grain, sugar crops or almost any starchy plant.

Although in most of the world in the 1980s it remained more expensive than gasoline, gasohol is derived from renewable sources.

Two gasohol blends were sold in the U.S. in the 1930s but were unable to compete successfully with low cost gasoline.

There is a new interest in alcohol blends because of oil shortages and the proposed banning of leaded gasolines by the end of the 1980s. Gasohol can be used without modifying the carburetor, ignition timing or fuel lines of an automobile and provides a slightly higher octane than unleaded regular gasoline.