What is the ruling on using alcohol as fuel for cars due to its low cost, less environmental pollution, and the possibility of producing it from agricultural crops?

Intoxicating alcohol is Khamr (wine/intoxicant), and the subsidiary issues upon which the ruling on using alcohol as car fuel is based are: the ruling on manufacturing Khamr, the ruling on selling it, its ruling in terms of purity and impurity (Tahara and Najasa), the ruling on selling impure substances, the ruling on benefiting from impure substances, and the harms resulting from the widespread use of alcohol as car fuel.

Manufacturing and selling Khamr are Haram (forbidden) by consensus, due to the general prophetic narrations (Hadith) that prohibit it.

As for benefiting from alcohol as fuel, based on the opinion that Khamr is impure, scholars differ on the permissibility of benefiting from impure substances outside of the human body. The Hadith, according to the majority, indicates the impermissibility of benefiting from what is forbidden and impure.

The benefits associated with using alcohol as fuel are countered by the harm of its widespread availability as fuel, which makes it accessible to everyone. This leads to its use for drinking, in addition to contaminating bodies and clothes because it is impure.

Therefore, it is not permissible to use alcohol as fuel because it is not permissible to manufacture or sell it, and due to the harms resulting from its widespread use.