A big plan to get more hand sanitizer into stores is in serious jeopardy.
Panic shopping and hoarding of hand sanitizer during the pandemic has made it nearly impossible to find any in stores. Families are turning to YouTube tutorials to make their own.
The unusual circumstances of the pandemic surfaced a possible solution to easing the sanitizer shortage: ethanol.
With much of America abiding by stay-at-home orders, driving is no longer the country's favorite pastime. This has substantially freed up biofuel ethanol that is produced for car fuel. Spotting opportunity and market need, many ethanol producers had started to repurpose parts of their factories to transition from making ethanol for fuel to producing the alcohol used in hand sanitizers.