And other octane enhancers are illegal in many places. MTBE isn’t allowed in MD, for instance. It may still be allowed in some areas of the US, but it poisons ground water if gasoline leaks out of undground storage tanks and leaches into ground water. We do have high water tables east of the Mississippi. If your ground water is a couple thousand feet down, it might take a lot longer to see the effects.
Correct me if I’m wrong but that is probably due to EPA and the people that got the payoffs for having them put it in all gas to begin with. So it costs more to have it removed or more so they can collect there money for not putting it in.
I grew up in Ohio so I know about that. Remember that E also attracts water so when you store gas in the ground in tanks and then pump it in to your tank how much of it has water in it already espically if you increase the E content.
Ethanol is a cost effective replacement for MTBE and is not a long term environmental hazard. E10 is a reasonable response to the environmental hazards of other octane enhancers. Anything with more ethanol than 10% is corporate welfare for the ethanol business, including ethanol plants and the corn growers that supply them, IMO. E10+ also gets corn state legislators re-elected. Drain that swamp sometime? I doubt it.
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Ethanol makes sense if there is a shortage of oil, if oil prices are very high (a shortage usually drives the price up) and for an octane enhancer. Tetra ethyl lead and MTBE are great octane enhancers but big time lousy for the environment. As with many things, a little ethanol is OK, too much is not so good. E15 is a political agenda not a science based one. When gas was $4.50 - $5.00 a gallon, flex fuel cars were in high demand. That did not last very long. With fracking giving us cheap fuel, the Saudis and others are dropping their price to keep us from developing alternatives to their cartel. That forces us to improve our efficiencies which helps keep the price of fuel lower. Ethanol will be around with govt mandates,and subsidies. I am not sure it can stand on it’s own though.
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If it could, mandates would be unnecessary. 
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So what would really happen if you did use say E15 or 85 in a car that was not set up for it? Would it fry the maf or other sensors or would it just seize your engine?
The fuel does not flow through the MAF, there is no way to damage the MAF with different levels of ethanol.
Ethanol will not cause an E85 engine to seize, a flex fuel engine can operate on any ratio of gasoline/ethanol. There are methods for the PCM to determine the ethanol/gasoline ratio for proper operation. If you have 5 gallons of gasoline in your tank when you fill with E85 the computer must be able to adapt to the new ratio.
In 2008 when gasoline reached over $4/gallon I removed many tank fulls of E85 from non flex fuel cars, I put the fuel in my own non flex fuel car, waste not want not. The resulting mixture was tolerable at city driving speeds, my PCM can adapt +/- 25% fuel ratio.
So if it’s not a flex fuel car. Will the car just not run? Or can you damage the engine some how If the computer will not be able to adapt.
I thought the whole point of E was a safer octane booster in gas and as an gov profit.
But the manufactures of non flex cars specifically say not to use higher than 10% why what will happen.
So should gas stations only carry gas and NOT Diesel…and there should be separate Diesel stations?
This proposal makes no sense to me.
The best way to contemplate damage from E15 is to look at boats and old motorcycles that were damaged by E10. Specifically, hoses, gaskets, and other types of seals can deteriorate from exposure to ethanol.
Interestingly, there is an E85 conversion kit for my car: https://www.change2e85.com/e85-conversion-for-honda-acura-civic-accord-hybrid-integra-crv-4vah
It’s possible to have E free gas it’s an additive to boost octane. They are increasing the amount of E in gas to sell more to make higher profits. Since only flex fuel cars can run gas containing more than 10% with no found bad results. They are now trying to increase to E15 and E 85. Diesel is a product produced during the refinement process of gas. I think it’s a wrong they charge almost as much as gas for diesel since you get it when you make gas. There is no reason not to sell both gas and diesel. Since it’s an additive you should have a choice of E free gas or gas with E added. If you stop making so many different blends i.e. Summmer winter ect and just refine and sell E free you would find the gas prices are cheaper and no need for E crap.
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Depends on where you live.
I know of only two Ethanol free stations even close to me. One is at a Marina. The other is a mile south of a local Race track. And you’re only allowed to pump the Ethanol free gas into Trailered vehicles or boats.
There is a movement to increase E-10 to E15…but NOT to E-85. That is for specialized Flex vehicles ONLY.
I’m not too sure how harmful E-15 will be. Not sure anyone really knows. I think auto manufacturers would have to approve the fuel for their vehicles before it becomes widespread.
True it is where you live. I live in Nevada the only we only have up to 91 octane we don’t have e free gas. But stations that offer gas and E15-E85. In states like Ohio and some others they have a stations that have offer E free gas. I wounded if they are trying to put E in diesel.
E-10 is NOT just to increase octane. It’s also an oxygenator. Oxygenators are used for cleaner emissions. E-10 reduces harmful emissions up to 30%.
A Google search shows 7 places to purchase ethanol free gas in Nevada. Now how up to date that is but it does show your statement might be wrong.
They might be like the ones here in NH. Marina’s or near race tracks and only to be used for Race Cars. I know of no gas stations anywhere near me that I can purchase Ethanol free gas for my car.
Well if you understood the refining process you would understand why different cuts off the cracking tower have different costs. Diesel is ‘more dense’ -not scientifically accurate but good enough for our discussion. Diesel is made up of heavier hydrocarbons that do not burn as easily as gasoline. The refinery could make more gallons of gasoline out of raw oil than they can make gallons of diesel. So if they make less diesel they reasonable need to charge more so they do not take a loss. Gasoline and diesel are not the only two products that come off of oil - paraffin, acetone, benzene, toluene, xylene and a ton of other stuff is made from the raw oil. You and I see gasoline because the quantity of gas made and sold overwhelms all the other stuff. A refinery can tune their process to give more gas, more diesel, etc. A lot depends on the raw oil that comes in, how the refinery is set up and what is giving them the most profit. They can tweak the process to some degree but could not make 100% gas or 100% diesel.
Pure gas.org has a better way of checking but near me only one place comes up that that’s a rebel that is there warehouse. Other than that it’s no gas stations
Solved problem. Aromatic hydrocarbons FTW! Benzene, Xylene, Toluene. Octane ratings of between 101 and 116 (R+ M)/2
Yeah…and the rush to saturate our fields with nitrates, to squeeze every last bushel of corn out, contributes to the “dead zone” in the Gulf. Plus increasing the cost of “feed corn” puts pressure on food prices, hurting the poor most…the ethanol mandate (like most ecological mandates) is “regressive” and hurts the working class the most.
So…strip mine our topsoil; pollute our waterways; take money from working Americans–but our (already squeaky-clean) air is a tiny bit cleaner…just another overpriced and ineffectual edict from the EPA!
(Of course, going forward, the EPA might not have the power it once did…soon to be demoted from a “300 lb gorilla” to more of a lemur…
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