The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 117
Ethanol Does NOT Suck Water Out Of The Air
Originally published March 18, 2016
UPDATED January 24, 2020 (with a bombshell hygroscopic video test
that destroys anti-ethanol myths)
Among the many ignorant and insidious claims spread by the oil industry to
denigrate ethanol is that ethanol sucks water right out of the air. Sometimes it's
phrased as "it absorbs water right out of the atmosphere." You see this claim
on lots of websites (often on the websites that are trying to sell some kind of
whizzbang engine treatment product); you hear it on radio and TV, and you see
it all over the place in the comment sections of anti-ethanol news stories and
blogs. Even comedian-auto enthusiast Jay Leno made this claim last year in a
story he wrote for AutoWeek magazine.
Well, it's a lie: ethanol does not suck or absorb water right out of the air. The
only thing that sucks is that the oil industry has been allowed to propagate lies
like this for so long.
The origin of the claim is that ethanol is classified as a "hygroscopic" substance.
Please note the spelling: hygroscopic (we've had people send us emails that
say "ethanol is hydroscopic..."). It is HYGRO, with the letter "G."
