For political if not economic reasons, the USA produces enough ethanol to replace 2-3% of gasoline consumed in this country, and production is rising. Currently, there's a push to use that fuel ethanol in cars, with 15% gasoline mixed in. I think we should try to direct that fuel ethanol to replace gasoline for lawn mowers and other tools that use small gasoline engines.
Lawn mowers use something like one third to two thirds of one percent of the gasoline consumed in the USA. But they put out 5% of some pollutants. Running a new lawn mower for an hour is equivalent to driving a new car 100 miles by one estimate. An old mower equals 650 miles in an old car, in another estimate. Switching to ethanol would reduce that pollution. It might also reduce any need to consider catalytic converters on mowers and other tools and gadgets with small motors. Adding converters would add an estimated $20-$60 to the cost of a mower, and might make them more dangerous. The catalytic converter on a car heats up to 1600 degrees. It's hard to imagine a safe way to put anything that hot on a lawn mower, and getting one to run much cooler would probably make it less effective.
The EPA estimates that 17 million gallons of fuel are spilled each year fueling lawn equipment. If you're going to spill a fuel, spill ethanol. It's biodegradable, especially diluted. Remember, a 50-50 mix of ethanol and water is also called 100 proof vodka. If you hose down spilled ethanol fuel promptly, it probably won't even kill the grass.
Requiring small motors like those on lawn mowers to burn ethanol would be a good way to make fuel ethanol available across the country. It would also give the whole country some familiarity with the motors that burn it. As (if) supplies increased, a distribution infrastructure would be in place and motor scooters, motorcycles, and cars could be built to burn it. For the first year you might have to fill up your motor scooter at the gas station with the 'lawn mower fuel' pump, but if demand increased and supply was available, more pumps would soon spring up.
The conversion to ethanol-fueled lawn mowers could happen rather quickly. The fellow who cuts my lawn does lawns all day, and he told me he gets about four months of service from a mower. Cars average something like 15 years on the road. If all new mowers sold were required to run on ethanol starting some January, by December most of the 'mower-hours, would probably be with the new cleaner motors.
I still suspect that the ethanol we're going to use as fuel has been foisted on us by Archer Daniels Midland and farm state senators. But since we're stuck subsidizing it and using it, let's use it where it will make the biggest dent in pollution.