EPA Admits Ethanol Damages Engines

Ethanol is a touchy subject for some. I personally hate the stuff and have seen first hand what it can do to parts. I had wire protectors on my (in tank) fuel pump dissolved by the stuff, and throttle bodies and intake tracts gummed up by it.

One of the things that they don't touch on is the way growing corn crops for fuel has driven up the seed price in developing countries and as a result caused hardship to the people there. The very idea of using farm land for fuel crops instead of food is ridiculous in a world where the population keeps rising, and farm land diminishing. Sure we won't notice it in the short term but it will catch up to us all.

I love corn, but prefer it "on the cob" with a nice steak.

This might be relevant: HowStuffWorks "How much corn would I need to grow in order to produce enough et"

Excerpt:

Let's assume that you drive a Toyota Camry, the best-selling car in America in 2000. We know that the Toyota Camry with automatic transmission gets 30 miles per gallon of gas on the highway.
Gasoline is more efficient than ethanol. One gallon of gasoline is equal to 1.5 gallons of ethanol. This means that same Camry would only get about 20 miles to the gallon if it were running on ethanol.
We also need to know how far you are traveling: Let's say from Los Angeles to New York, which is 2,774 miles (4,464.2 km), according to MapQuest.com.
Through research performed at Cornell University, we know that 1 acre of land can yield about 7,110 pounds (3,225 kg) of corn, which can be processed into 328 gallons (1240.61 liters) of ethanol. That is about 26.1 pounds (11.84 kg) of corn per gallon.
First, we need to figure out how much fuel we will need:

(METRIC: 4,464.2 km / 8.5 km per liter = 525.2 liters)
We know that it takes 26.1 pounds of corn to make 1 gallon of ethanol, so we can now calculate how many pounds of corn we need to fuel the Camry on its trip:

(METRIC: 525.2 liters * 3.13 kg = 1,642 kg)
You will need to plant a little more than a half an acre of corn to produce enough ethanol to fuel your trip.
According to the research from Cornell, you need about 140 gallons (530 liters) of fossil fuel to plant, grow and harvest an acre of corn. So, even before the corn is converted to ethanol, you're spending about $1.05 per gallon.
"The energy economics get worse at the processing plants, where the grain is crushed and fermented," reads the Cornell report. The corn has to be processed with various enzymes; yeast is added to the mixture to ferment it and make alcohol; the alcohol is then distilled to fuel-grade ethanol that is 85- to 95-percent pure. To produce ethanol that can be used as fuel, it also has to be denatured with a small amount of gasoline.
The final cost of the fuel-grade ethanol is about $1.74 per gallon. (Of course, a lot of variables go into that number.)

Here's another interesting article: New Research Blasts Supposed Efficiency of Corn Ethanol

For those that hate links, here is the jist'.

Why corn?


Corn is the lobbyist's crop of choice in the U.S. for making bioethanol. The reasons boil down to who has the most powerful lobbies in Washington and how much money Congress has been willing to pour into ethanol. Some of the most powerful lobbies in D.C. are the industrial farm industry and the bioengineering industry. Since corn is a big money maker for both Big Ag and is one of the most prolific of Monsanto's genetically modified seeds (GMO or GM food), it's a win-win-win for the lobbyists, Big Ag, and the Congressional leaders they write the checks to.

Why corn ethanol is a loser.


The EWG's report shows that besides the environmental and human problems that come with using corn as a fuel source,3 the dollar figures and fuel efficiency payoffs are infinitesimal. Even the amount of oil supposedly saved is tiny, especially considering the huge sums of money being thrown into corn ethanol production.

Taxpayer subsidies mean that every gallon of corn ethanol adds an additional 0.45 cents (as of 2009-10) to the cost of a gallon of gasoline. That's additional cost over and above the price of a gallon of gas, not instead of it. For this, we get a fuel that is much less efficient than gasoline and thus only minimally adds to the benefits of its addition. E10 (10% ethanol, 90% gasoline) is the most common blend in the U.S. The 10.6 billion gallons produced in 2009, however, replaced only 7.2 billion gallons of gasoline thanks to this mixture.

That's not all, though. Because ethanol is less efficient than gasoline it cuts mileage by about 4%. Yet the proponents of ethanol love to point out that it displaces gasoline. But when you do the math, it's not displacing that much. Increasing fuel mileage nationally by 0.4 miles per gallon would do the same. That could be achieved by just using the recommended grade of motor oil or keeping the vehicle's tires properly inflated. Tuning the engine has double the payoff and driving sensibly would increase it by as much as 6.6%! Heck, just replacing clogged air filters increases economy by up to 1.2% and even if the government bought one for every vehicle in America, it would not likely cost as much as the $5.4 billion they're projected to spend subsidizing ethanol (not to mention corn) this year alone.

With all of the great technologies for improving fuel efficiency, getting us away from foreign oil imports, and replacing our petroleum-based fuels and infrastructure with more natural and sustainable alternatives, why is it that our congress-critters insist on throwing our tax dollars into corn-based ethanol?
 
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That's very interesting, I didn't realise it was so inefficient. The whole idea of using up farm land to produce fuel is preposterous anyway but to waste precious soil for something that damages our vehicles AND isn't even more efficient stinks of corruption and profiteering
 
Dustin said:
That's very interesting, I didn't realise it was so inefficient. The whole idea of using up farm land to produce fuel is preposterous anyway but to waste precious soil for something that damages our vehicles AND isn't even more efficient stinks of corruption and profiteering
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It absolutely does, but that is government. Different borders and issues, same stuff around the world.

The consumer can have a little power in this issue though. Don't buy it when you have a choice!

Ethanol-free gas stations in the U.S. and Canada
 
We can buy either pure gas or 10% ethanol in OK. Honestly there is no performance difference and mileage by 1 mpg, maybe.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
 
Here in BC we've got 10% ethanol but Chevron does offer 93 octane without ethanol.

We have a chain of gas stations called Mohawk/Husky that have put ethanol in their fuel as long as I can remember. I don't recall ever hearing any issues with it come up before it became mandatory. Curious
 
Dustin said:
Here in BC we've got 10% ethanol but Chevron does offer 93 octane without ethanol.

We have a chain of gas stations called Mohawk/Husky that have put ethanol in their fuel as long as I can remember. I don't recall ever hearing any issues with it come up before it became mandatory. Curious
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Yes, and I have never bought that stuff, but I have a problem with Husky for other reasons, so I have always boycotted that company. In reality, if a person fuels there only occasionally, and mixes with pure gas in other fills, they would likely never notice any difference.

You should have seen the junk on the throttle bodies after my trip through Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming last year. The insides were coated with a white /yellow residue. I have never seen anything like it before, nor since. I cleaned it off with rubbing alcohol and cotton swabs. The same stuff in the cylinder intake tracts, not so easy to clean. The clear plastic wire protectors on my fuel pump had softened and started to crumble off. They had turned into a jelly and the sump was full of it. This had never happened before and the only variable was the ethanol fuel that I had no choice but to buy down there. I even searched around in locations where I had the option and sometimes I was able to find Ethanol free fuel.



Wire protectors turned to jelly and in fuel pump sump.


Wire protectors seen partially dissolved.

This is what they should look like.
 
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Most people don't have a choice when it comes to ethanol.....most blends contain up to 10%. There are some areas that sell ethanol free fuel, but it's the exception rather than the rule.

Many groups and organizations have raised the flag on E15 fuel, saying it would damage engines, but the EPA always pooh poohed the idea, until the evidence emerged and they finally had to admit E15 "has some problems". The whole idea of growing corn to make ethanol was always a fool's errand....but many years ago people fell in love with the idea of 'growing our own fuel' instead of buying it from the Middle East and of course once Congress saw this gimmick they were all in on the scheme. The farmers love the whole concept and they won't want to give it up even though the latest evidence shows ethanol overall is worse for the environment than just using fossil fuels.

In my opinion the EPA is one of the most damaging outfits in the government....they have bad things planned for cutting back on affordable, accessible fuel under the false umbrella of 'saving the planet'.
 
It's all a big money scheme.
Cars can be 2x as efficient as they are now on the fuel we have and thats naturally aspirated, adding a turbo and regulating boost could also raise efficiency.
A gallon of diesel is equivalent to a gallon and a half if gas, yet we don't have many diesel rigs running around. It also cost about half as much to refine as gas yet costs more.
They can't tax as much if our vehicles are 3x as efficient as they are.

The ASE engine performance manual says an average NA engine takes in about 50% of the air it needs to burn all the fuel used at 3000 rpm. Why add this emissions egr bs (which decreases efficiency) and not force feed it air (which when used properly increases efficiency)

The US uses about 3 billion tons of fossil fuel a year. Cut that to 1 billion and some pockets are gonna lighten up a lot...
 
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HEMP is the solution! Ever wonder why something with NO psychoactive properties is illegal? Because it would put big oil and corn for fuel out of business!
 
Hellgate said:
We can buy either pure gas or 10% ethanol in OK. Honestly there is no performance difference and mileage by 1 mpg, maybe.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk
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You can't tell the difference by the sesat of your pants , is what you mean. alcohol has far less energy content than gasoline. Your gasoline is being "atered down" You have less power and get less miles per gallon. This is chemistry and physics and politicians can't change the physical sciences. They can only bamboozle voters - and take graft.

If you put your car, motorcycle, whatever on a dynomometer you would see a marked difference - much less power with alcohol. You can't feel a difference unless there is a radical difference - like 70 hp vs 110 hp.

As for burning food for cars .... And the energy it takes to convert the corn to alcohol. There is at least a triple whammy of how bad this idea is.
Not even speaking of the alcohol eating up plastic and fuel system parts - rusting out gas tanks - due to alcohols affinity for water - it absorbs water! Always has, always will. So you gas now contains alcohol and water!

Doesn't bother politicians. Just pass the bill into law and and pass me my money. Shameless, uneducated politicians.

Sorry, I was gonna post a very short... but I'm an engineer with bunches of degrees and it's been muy business to know this kind of stuff. The other engineers here will feel the same.

Question. Congress passes laws all the time - every day, essentially. Can you remember a law being repealed??? It hardly ever happens. Once done - it sticks. How many years did it take before prohibition was finally repealed? 1920 to 1933. It took them 13 years of miserable failure and the creation of massive crime, bootlegging, the mafia before it was repealed. Kinda like our "war on drugs" since the 1960's. They just won't let laws go. Makes the guilty feel to stupid.
Alcohol in gas - can go on and on and on and on. Doesn't matter that every aspect of it is bad or damaging. They passed it and they want to save face - and keep it. Until perhaps that group dies off of old age... Politicians are disgusting!

One more question. What kind of society burns the food they grow, while people are starving??? Is God watching this??
 
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