[03sharky]

Gas Plus Ethanol
2007-01-04 08:25:53
Changes have been made to the gasoline you pump into your car that you may not know about. Starting this week all gas sold in Ontario must be five percent ethanol. Chatham-Kent Essex MPP Pat Hoy has the largest ethanol plant in Ontario is his riding. He says the environment will be better off because of the change.



Ahh is this a good idea?

 

[DarkSouledSRT]

They have been ethanol enriching the gas over here for a while now. Makes my car start up like sh!t though.

 

[MJ6]

Gah, more of this ethanol blend BS. They pulled this crap in Milwaukee a few years back, telling us it would be more "Ecologically friendly".
After a few years on the market, it ends up that it doesn't have any real effect one way or the other. All it does is cost more at the pump and provide you with crappy gas mileage.
I love it when we have to go on road trips though. I'll ride that sucker till she's dry, just so I can get a full tank of the pure non-ethacrap gas.

 

[237]

They have been ethanol enriching the gas over here for a while now. Makes my car start up like sh!t though.

You sure that's not due to the fact that it's a neon?

But he's right, they've been doing that for a long time in the US. I believe during certain winter months, they put quite a bit of ethanol in the gas.

 

[staw512]

most of the gas around me is 10% ethanol

 

[DarkSouledSRT]

You sure that's not due to the fact that it's a neon?

But he's right, they've been doing that for a long time in the US. I believe during certain winter months, they put quite a bit of ethanol in the gas.

Lol that was uncalled for.

 

[jaytibby]

iv been pumping ethonol blend for almost 3 years now. its fine you can't tell the difference.

 

[croat]

I'm in Milwaukee as well (and your a newbie, would love to meet new members).

Anyways, we've been on the 10% blend for almost 10 years now and there has been no change in gas mileage or price which is what I shall disagree with you on. I have done plenty of mileage tests and I cannot see a difference. As far as pricing, all of the metro Milwaukee gas stations are similar in price and we are 100% in line with pricing of surrounding counties with straight gas. Check out www.gasbuddy.com or www.gaspricewatch.com if you dont believe.

croat

PS. I would much rather run straight ethanol and support my local farmers than all the ******** thats going on in the middle east. Supporting local your local economy or some 3rd world country over seas ..... hmmmm.

 

[MJ6]

True, true. I guess it depends where you fill up. I just miss the .99 per gallon days :3_nooo:
As far as the mileage goes, it could be just my wife and I feeling the placebo effect; although our cars seem to run a bit smoother on the pure stuff.
And believe me, if I could shove ears of corn into my tank, I would...that is if my car could run off them. But then that could get messy having un-combusted kernels shooting out of my exhaust at the people behind me.
Oh, where 'bouts do you live C? I'm in Oak Creek here. We'll have to get together some time.

 

[Kalian]

Just thought i'd add on to this thread

From wikipedia

The largest single use of ethanol is as a motor fuel and fuel additive. The largest national fuel ethanol industries exist in Brazil (gasoline sold in Brazil contains at least 20% ethanol and hydrous ethanol is also used as fuel).[14] One method of production is through fermentation of sugar. Ethanol creates very little pollution when being burned. Millions more acres of land are needed if ethanol is to be used to replace gasoline. Pure ethanol has a lower energy content than gasoline (about 30% less energy per unit volume).[15][16] At gas stations, ethanol is contained in a mix of ethanol and gasoline, otherwise known as gasohol. In the United States, the color yellow (symbolizing the color of corn) has become associated with the fuel and is commonly used on fuel pumps and labels.

According to the Renewable Fuels Association, as of November 2006; 107 grain ethanol biorefineries in the United States have the capacity to produce 5.1 billion gallons of ethanol. An additional 56 construction projects underway (in the U.S.) can add 3.8 billion gallons of new capacity in the next 18 months. Over time, it is believed that a material portion of the ~150 billion gallon per year market for gasoline will begin to be replaced with fuel ethanol. [2] Growth in fuel ethanol in the United States is largely being driven by financial incentives that naturally exist when oil prices are over a certain level, as ethanol typically costs under $1.50 per gallon to manufacture (of course this is sensitive to corn prices) and is exempt from the $0.52 per gallon federal gasoline tax. However, the United States RFS (renewable fuel standard) requires that 4 billion gallons of "renewable fuel" be used in 2006 and this requirement will grow to 7.5 billion gallons per annum by 2012.[3].

 

[croat]

Nearly all fueling stations in Brazil offer a choice of either E25 or pure ethanol. Here in Milwaukee, we offer E10 (10% Ethanol) only as the fuel choice. They dont use straight gas in Brazil, and normally the only people to use the E25 are ones with industrial applications as the E25 is higher priced.

Most cars in Brazil run either on alcohol or on gasohol; only recently dual-fuel ("Flex Fuel") engines have become available. Gas stations sell both fuels. The market share of the two car types has varied a lot over the last decades, in response to fuel price changes. Ethanol-only cars were sold in Brazil in significant numbers between 1980 and 1995; between 1983 and 1988, they accounted for over 90% of the sales. 80% of the cars produced in Brazil in 2005 were dual-fuel, compared to only 17% in 2004.

I miss the $0.89 a gallon fill up in Madison back in 96' MJ, but those days are long gone You can find E85 around here for less than $1.50 and somtimes down to $1.25, but thats the closest your gonna see to those prices. Also, I live in the Stadium vicinity near downtown.

 

[Mid_West]

Here in the middle of all this corn (IA / IL), Ethanol is a big deal. I think I've been seeing 5 to 10% ethanol blends at the pumps for at least 10 years.

In the old days it would look like this at the station. If you wanted higher octane, you paid more:

87 octane - $1.70
89 octane - $1.80
91 octane - $1.90

Then when gas prices got crazy, I started seeing this:

89 octane w/ ethanol - $2.70
87 octane - $2.80
91 octane - $2.90

They tossed ethanol in the midgrade, and suddenly "pure" low grade (87 octane) cost more than the higher octane ethanol blend. Looked really odd at Amoco, where the Blue grade would cost more than the Silver...

I tend to go for what's cheapest. So lately that's been the midgrade, 89 octane, ethanol blend. I just bought gas the other day, and I got 285 miles on the tank.

Anyway, my car has seen plenty of ethanol blends, and I've never noticed any difference in mileage, power, performance, etc.