Ethanol Restrictions Lifted

I don't know about nylon, but it is true that plastics gaso cans are treated somehow to help prevent diffusion thru the plastics.

Well, I would say there are a great many options for using oxygenates and other hydrocarbons options for making gasoline besides ethanol. When EPA took charge of the gasoline recipe, and the ethanol lobby formed, that put an end to oil industry R&D efforts which they were always fiddling with new ideas for making gasoline/different oxygenates etc. Now those former R&D efforts basically are legislated out of existence.

Having said that, given the negative eco-experience with MTBE (made from methanol), it is hard to think of an oxygenate additive as safe and non-toxic as ethanol. But there is no fundamental need to put oxygenate in gasoline in the first place.

When MTBE was banned, it would have been possible and perhaps eco-desirable to convert those plants to make pure isooctane (100 octane standard). But Congress wanted to side with ethnaol lobby to mandate ethanol as the one and only option.

 

Up here it's the inverse: a shell station I checked recently had the most succinct explanation, on the pump:

regular: 10% ethanol
mid-octane: 5% ethanol
High-octane: no ethanol


I got the sense the mid-octane was a 50/50 blend of the other two?

 

MTBE (methyl tertiary butyl ether) is related to methanol only on account that is a precursor molecule to MTBE as a chemical reaction of methanol and isobutane. The resultant molecule is different from basic methanol.

It remains that ethanol is a boondoggle in favor of corn growers. The main reason for the E15 rules is to offset the tariffs on corn farmers.

 

True but methanol is a very low boiling molecule (high vapor pressure - evap emissions) so adding straight methanol to gasoline was never a highly desirable atternative, except as a profitable expediency for those that had access to cheap methanol to blend in. You seem to be fixated on using methanol but there are many other options. For example, it is fairly easy to convert methanol to gasoline, so you can have your cake and eat it too.

Clearly Congress here, as well as golbally, strongly prefer to control the gasoline and diesel market to mandate that the Ag community has the highest of priorities to insert their farm-drived fuels. You and I can jointly bemoan that, but for now that's tough bananas.

 

Before 2000 and the farm lobby, methanol was blended with gasoline and sold as Gasohol, especially in California.

In survival situations, where gasoline was not available, shredded wood was burnt as "mash" in wood fired generators on erstwhile gasoline fueled vehicles. Methanol or wood alcohol was used in run there vehicles in remote areas of the world.

 

Fake news, gas cap and manual says no to E15-E85, only use E10.

Bring back Alex Jones, we want real news!

 

If Bill "the butcher" Poole kept the Irish out, Alex Jones' great grandfather would not have been allowed in the US. Therefore, no Alex Jones.

 

It would seem that way, but it depends on what octanes we are discussing. In the US, midgrade is 2 to 10 mix of premium and regular.

 

The gas cap on my Prius says up to E15.

 

Is your 2012 Prius a 2016 gen4?

The ethanol lobby has been pushing for E15 for some time now. So a requirement for cars to be able to use E15 was instituted years ago. Most new cars today can use E15.

 

I will still avoid E15 like the plague.

I value the engine in my car, and I do not support the ethanol lobby "boondoggle."

 

In SC, that will be possible, but somewhat spendy....NOT the reason I would drive a Prius, personally.

 

In South Carolina, not all grades even have 10% ethanol. Those states that are mandated to have a certain percentage of ethanol in gas are given priority. Regular has the phrase "Up to 10% ethanol" on the pump.

 

Yes true we are RFG mandated area and it says CONTAINS 10% ETHANOL no hedge, and I pretty much verified it by limited sampling and testing at home. The sample outside my RFG area had a little less ethnaol.

If my car was rated for E15 I would not be concerned about using E15, but I have no interest in it, I'd rather have E0.

 

Ethanol produces less energy than the same volume of gasoline. Ethanol cost more than gasoline in most markets. That's why I prefer as little of in in my fuel as possible.

I prefer to drink ethanol than to burn it. E85 is nothing more than denatured alcohol; denatured with gasoline.

Alcohol is denatured, because it is not taxed like that manufactured for human consumption.

 

I'm running 77% EV right now, so I'm not overly concerned.

 

An engine designed for it, nothing.

But there is a lot of older cars still on the road not designed for it. For these, the metals, plastics, and rubbers, used in the fuel system could corrode or degrade faster with alcohol in the fuel.