The Ethanol Papers - Paperturn manuscript - Flipbook - Page 550
words, the ethanol acts like a cleaner and gets rid of deposits caused by gasoline. Why is that a bad thing?!
You know, it is true that if someone has been using ethanol-free gasoline in
their vehicle for many years, and then suddenly introduced a high blend level
of ethanol-gasoline to their car's engine that some of those cruddy, crappy,
gooey deposits could come loose and gum-up the works. And at this point,
some maintenance and new parts might be necessary. However, if this is the
situation, then their vehicle would require the same work at some point even if
they continued using ethanol-free gasoline, just as has been the case for the
entire history of the motorcar (automobile). Engine repairmen and facilities are
not a new thing; they didn't suddenly crop up when the Renewable Fuel Standard was enacted.
But, if the vehicles have been using E5 for some time, then there's the likelihood
that the small amount of ethanol in the E5 petrol has already been slowly cleaning the engine. Therefore, by making the small move from E5 to E10, there
shouldn't be any drastic avalanche of gunk to create a blockage. Instead, the
car owner is getting what amounts to a free engine cleaning and crud prevention
service. Incidentally, when Brazil was contemplating the move from mandated
E25 to E27 the boo-birds came out once again with the same fear-mongering
rhetoric that the jump from 25% ethanol to 27% ethanol would somehow be that
tipping point at which automobile engines might crumble to dust. They did tests
and found nothing to conclude that E27 would be any different than E25, or for
that matter E20, E15, or E10.
Now I know that it's hard to believe anything that comes from people who speak
a language other than English (I am being sarcastic), but sometimes it's good
to look past your moral superiority of being an English-speaker, and consider
that the information could be true.
As for ethanol being the sole or primary cause of corrosion to some seals, gaskets, metals, and plastics, like what? Which seals, gaskets, metals, and plastics? In my review of compatibility websites that compare different substances
and their compatibility with various materials, I think it's glaringly obvious that
ethanol is far more compatible with more materials likely to be used in automobiles than either gasoline or the aromatics often contained in gasoline as a replacement for ethanol as an oxygenate (such as toluene, benzene, and Xylene).
If you're keen to see the comparisons for yourself, check out these web resources:
