The debate heated up this month as EPA hit a deadline for responding to ethanol lobbyist Growth Energy's waiver seeking approval of E15 for use in conventional vehicles. That is up from the E10 currently approved by EPA and found in most non-flex-fuel car warranties.
When its December 1 deadline for a decision on the issue came around, EPA said it needed more time but appeared to be leaning toward higher blends, noting they will be needed to fulfill federal renewables mandates while other advanced biofuels struggle to hit commercial levels.
There was just one catch: EPA said testing so far showed a higher blend was found safe for engines of cars with model years 2001 and above.
Ethanol and oil industry lobbyists were taken aback. They both complained of the balkinization of the US fuel supply, saying there was not enough storage to hold both E10 and other higher blends at retail sites. In addition, they complained that consumers wouldn't know what to do when they got to the pump, creating widespread misfueling.
But while the ethanol lobby was pushing to get all cars approved to run E15, the oil industry appeared to be hoping for the opposite effect--if any model is found to have issues, then all models should be barred from running higher blends. Their main concern is liability, something still fresh in their minds after gasoline oxygenate MTBE was accused of contaminating groundwater.
Anti-E15 press releases are filled with tales of not only possible car engine failures, but also of marine engines that strand fishermen in the middle of the ocean, as well as an oft-repeated story about chainsaws suddenly coming to life when running a higher ethanol-gasoline blend. On the marketing side, there is talk of the possible failure of tank and pipeline sealants when exposed to more ethanol.
At this point testing is not complete, says EPA. But by the middle of 2010 the agency promises to let us know more.
Seeing this next episode of the ethanol fiasco on the horizon, I bought a Diesel Jeep Liberty in April, 2009.
I have been using ethanol in my vehicles for years and ethanol works great. I actually get better fuel economy, because my vehicle calls for premium fuel. When you compare ethanol fuel E30 with an octane of 94 to premium fuel with a 92 octane we see a significant cost savings of almost 70 cents per gallon.
Watch this youtube video. Lake Area technical institute took a 2000 Chevy Tahoe and ran E85 for over 100k. The motor was in better shape than if they were to use regular gas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuOs1yap8mU
As a country we should be using E30 now. It would decrease our dependence for foreign oil, reduce pollution and help the American farmer. Instead of paying farmers not to farm their land we could pay them to grow switchgrass (a prairie grass) which the government already does in some cases. Switchgrass can be grown along side of the highways and harvested just as a farmer harvests hay. Sugar cane is good for bio fuels too but I would rather see the high fructose corn syrup be made into gas and have the sugar in my food (I don’t like HFCS).