Take 5 Minutes to Have Your Say on Ethanol

[savetexomabeaches]

How much ethanol do you want in your gas in 2018?

Right now, the Environmental Protection Agency is asking for public comments on the amount of ethanol that must be blended into the nation?s fuel supply for 2018, and is urging recreational boaters to speak up and be heard by providing comments at http://cqrcengage.com/boatus/app/act...ementId=389053. The deadline is midnight August 31.?While the nation?s proposed ethanol levels for 2018 are slightly lower than the 2017 mandate, boaters can expect to face higher ethanol-fuel blends, such as E15 (15-percent ethanol) at more gas stations next year under the current proposal?. Because of its ability to damage boat engines, federal law prohibits the use of gas blends greater than E10 (10-percent ethanol) in recreational boats.
Most recreational boaters refuel their boats at roadside gas stations. E15 and higher ethanol blend fuel can now be found in at least 23 states, often at the very same pumps as E10 gasoline. A single sticker on the dispenser pump mixed in with all the other labels may be the only warning of E15 gasoline. This creates a dangerous potential for misfuelling and puts boaters at risk of using fuel that will damage their engines.

We all know WHO and WHY... So please do not make bash comments about who or why.

 

[gm280]

The funny thing about ethanol is it was initially introduced to help with the import demands of raw crude oil we are still buying from OPEC. And since the Federal government demanded we use 10% mixtures, that dropped our need by 10%. However, the cost to make that ethanol costs more now to produce then raw crude on the OPEC market. So we are actually paying more for 10% then we would for pure gas.

And now the Fed is going to push that limit to 15% or even more across the board. However, ethanol doesn't yield as much power (sort to speak) as pure gas. So we suffer with even less MPG using 15% then 10% or even pure gas. And therefore use more gas in the long run. It is a silly requirement that actually costs us more then using 100% gas. And the corn grown is now going towards fuel and not as much towards food.

I know for certain the ethanol fuels were eating up fuel lines in yard equipment and lawn mowers. And anybody the owned different yard equipment knew that for fact. I went through a lot more fuel line then ever before. And the carbs got gum up a lot quicker as well, But as newer fuel line is produced it is made to help with that issue.

 

[aspeck]

This thread is being discussed by the Mod Squad as to whether it falls under the political or solicitation rules. Know that if it goes political it will be removed immediately. Don't make our decision an easy one!

gm280 gm, you may want to edit your post for the good of the thread.

 

[fhhuber]

This thread is being discussed by the Mod Squad as to whether it falls under the political or solicitation rules. Know that if it goes political it will be removed immediately. Don't make our decision an easy one!

gm280 gm, you may want to edit your post for the good of the thread.

Making it a requirement had no realistic basis in economics or environmental preservation.

Car makers have to revise fuel systems to compensate for the ethanol.
Cars burn more fuel per mile because ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline.
Different materials must be used to prevent the ethanol from attacking gaskets and metals that withstand gasoline just fine.
Electronic sensors and computer control systems have to be re-calibrated to compensate for the different burn temperature and different exhaust gas mix.

They had to exempt aviation from the rule because ethanol is just not a good fuel for aircraft. It works fine in a limited altitude range but the formula has to be changed as altitude increases and above certain altitudes its impossible to make it work properly. (They also needed to exempt aviation from the prohibition on lead additives in fuel)


Making ethanol from corn is fine for making moonshine and Jack Daniels Whiskey.

But METHANOL is a better fuel and would be made from different plants including "Switch Grass" and this is actually what Henry Ford was hoping would become the standard fuel for the automobile. It just happened that gasoline was a waste product from processing crude oil for just about every other product desired and it was cheap.
Methanol would even be useful for light aircraft not going above 16,000 ft (most non-pressurized private aircraft.)

 

[savetexomabeaches]

:facepalm::facepalm::facepalm::facepalm: 3 2 1...

WIMUSKY Thank you

 

[WIMUSKY]

I went into 2 posts and deleted anything political..... Please people, let's not push the envelope............

 

[Scott Danforth]

OPEI and NMMA both are lobbying to keep ethanol percentage low.

From my days in lawn equipment......E15 will cause small engines in lawn equipment to overheat as the fixed orifice jets cant be adjusted, so the AF ratio goes lean. Hence the waranty void labels on the fuel tanks.

From my friends and colleagues in the marine world, marine motors have similar labels.

Visit both the OPEI and NMMA sites, form your own opinions,

 

[gm280]

This thread is being discussed by the Mod Squad as to whether it falls under the political or solicitation rules. Know that if it goes political it will be removed immediately. Don't make our decision an easy one!

gm280 gm, you may want to edit your post for the good of the thread.

aspeck, seem someone has already removed the iffy material. I am so sorry for running on. I get carried away too many time. I need to stop posting so much and simply read and not make statements. Sorry again, I will watch my posting now. I need to stop posting so much anyways. :sorry:

 

[aspeck]

No need to stop posting, gm, just try your hardest to avoid the politics. It is not easy for me at times either, but for the good of the group...

 

[Tnstratofam]

Thanks for posting. I would hate to see my fuel choices limited. Fortunately here in North East Tn we still have 100% gas available at most independent stations. Albiet mote expensive than the 10% ethanol which is the norm at all the other stations.

 

[MTboatguy]

Things are changing, for the better or the worse, which is why conversations like this never turn out well

 

[82rude]

Info is good.Hers and example of ill informed.I live in a border city and occasionally get this response when i say im going over the river (to soo michigan) to get gas,Why do you get gas over there it will ruin your motor its crappy gas?Im still flabbergasted by the amount of people that dont know that our over priced over taxed ontario gas has corn juice in it also!!!!! If you lived 10 minutes from the border and 180 dollars in gas only would cost you 130 to me its a no brainer.FOR THE SAME GAS FOLKS!!!!.As for e15 im going to email evinrude and see what they say about my etec and that possibility.

 

[TXOkie]

Thankfully, here in Oklahoma 100% gas is still readily available, as that is all I run in everything but my trucks. Most newer vehicles I have seen are rated for up to 15% ethanol, so if it is in the plans to go any higher than that, I could definitely foresee an uprising because of the possibility of added expense to the consumer for modifications to existing vehicles to be able to operate. I hope we will still have a choice of what to run in our vehicles in the near future.

 

[RGrew176]

Fortunately or us here in Michigan most marinas, at least the ones I frequent are selling all gasoline no blends. I have a small Honda Eu2000 portable generator and I only run marina gas or rec fuel in it. None of the ethanol blends.

 

[achris]

...Cars burn more fuel per mile because ethanol has less energy per gallon than gasoline....

This got me curious...

So I did a little research. You need to burn 1.4l of ethanol to produce the same energy as 1l of petrol. So, if 10% of the petrol was replaced with ethanol, the energy yield would be 97.1% of that of 100% petrol. That's a loss of less than 3%... In a vehicle getting 18mpg on 100% petrol, then on 10% ethanol it would return 17.5mpg... I seriously doubt many people would be able to measure that over even a few tanks of fuel...

I feel this is a 'non-issue' and outweighs the benefits of ethanol.

Chris......

 

[fhhuber]

This got me curious...

So I did a little research. You need to burn 1.4l of ethanol to produce the same energy as 1l of petrol. So, if 10% of the petrol was replaced with ethanol, the energy yield would be 97.1% of that of 100% petrol. That's a loss of less than 3%... In a vehicle getting 18mpg on 100% petrol, then on 10% ethanol it would return 17.5mpg... I seriously doubt many people would be able to measure that over even a few tanks of fuel...

I feel this is a 'non-issue' and outweighs the benefits of ethanol.

Chris......

I calculate my gas mileage every fill up and can detect 0.1 mpg change...
My driving is consistent enough that 0.1 mpg change means something.

Modern cars are now giving mpg readouts and can show the change almost instantly.

 

[WIMUSKY]

I calculate my gas mileage every fill up and can detect 0.1 mpg change...
My driving is consistent enough that 0.1 mpg change means something.

Modern cars are now giving mpg readouts and can show the change almost instantly.

Jury is of on the accuracy of those readouts. But .1 of a change? It will vary more than that if you let your vehicle idle a few extra minutes or sitting at an extra red light.... Or you leave a stop light a tad harder...... Statistically, it's insignificant.....

 

[bigdee]

It is hard in my area to find non-ethanol gas. It does create issues in my seasonal and infrequently used equipment so IMO 15% would be a real concern. I have found that when mixed with 2 stroke oil the gas will have less carb issues. I have been mixing all my gas 40:1 to use in all my equipment...4 stroke and 2 stroke and have eliminated the headaches. Nothing wrong with a little upper cylinder lubrication in simple engines.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Looks to me like you are just making up reasons to disbelieve reality

Argumentative and inciting conflict for the purpose of inciting conflict. reporting the moderator. I want a different moderator to reprimand YOU.

No, I was being realistic. Disagreeing with you is not being argumentative......

Report me? Whatever makes your day.........

I'm sorry that you don't drive consistently enough to use your gas mileage as an indicator of your vehicle's condition. Some of us can, and do.

My average gas mileage varies so little that 0.1 mpg change over a fill up IS significant.

Sorry, but you can't either, too many variables. If you can't understand that, well, that's your problem....

 

[fhhuber]

I'm sorry that you are abusing your positions as modertors