The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 372
To prove that alcohol will not absorb water right out of the thin or ambient air, I
always offer this simple at-home experiment: Fill any open container halfway
with alcohol and place it on your kitchen counter. Allow it to sit for one or more
days. If alcohol absorbs water right out of the air, then when you check the level
of liquid in the ensuing days you would find that it has risen. If you find that the
level of the liquid in the container has risen (without any manipulation, change
to the environment of your indoor kitchen, or interference to the natural process)
and you can document it, I will pay you $1,000.
Incidentally, cotton is also a hygroscopic substance. So just as additional proof
that being a hygroscopic substance doesn't mean that it absorbs water right out
of the air, place a ball of cotton on the other side of your kitchen counter and
see if it gets saturated with water from just sitting out in the open.
Moving on to one of Jay's other points, if you were to pour a gallon of water in
your gasoline tank your vehicle will probably have great difficulty starting. But
that's not how water gets in your gasoline tank, unless you're very, very drunk
when you go to the filling station. You can get water in your fuel system because
of condensation. What’s the solution if you have some water in your fuel system? Do you stick a straw in and suck it out? No, you add a product like Dry
Gas. Dry Gas is ethanol, meaning that you use ethanol to solve the problem of
water in your gasoline tank. That's right, to solve the problem!
Ethanol doesn't actually absorb the water, it breaks the water molecules down
so that ignition and combustion of the gasoline can take place. The water molecules are then expelled in the exhaust. In other words, ethanol aids combustion, not inhibits combustion as Jay stated.
Jay goes on to say, "It gets worse. Ethanol is a solvent that can loosen the
sludge, varnish, and dirt that accumulate in a fuel tank. That mixture can clog
fuel lines and block carburetor jets." The sludge, varnish, and dirt that Jay is
referring to are caused by gasoline. So ironically, the cleaning characteristic
that Jay is now criticizing is the same beneficial cleaning characteristic that he
previously championed when discussing the benefits of ethanol.
Then Jay writes, "Blame the Renewable Fuel Standard (for these problems).
However, that's not where the blame lies. The blame lies with gasoline; the liars
in the gasoline industry; and the politicians who forced us to use gasoline, which
resulted in gasoline becoming the dominant and default vehicle fuel. Ethanol
cleans the gunk, gasoline causes it.
