I am strongly opposed to allowing even more ethanol in automotive gasoline for several sound technical reasons (OGJ Online, Mar. 9, 2009):
- Production of ethanol from edible crops is not additive to energy supplies and increases food costs the world over.
- We, The People, are heavily subsidizing ethanol use in gasoline. It is not energy additive or financially attractive without a gift from the US in the form of a tax credit.
- Present “splash blending” of ethanol results in some batches greatly above 10%, causing vehicle damage. My son is a technician at a BMW/Mercedes/Volvo dealership. They have measured ethanol levels over 20%. Those levels caused failure of the catalytic muffler system of a new MBZ—not covered by warranty, requiring over $5,000 to replace. When the shop adds 50 ml of water to 100 ml of the suspect fuel and gets 70 ml of water layer, that is conclusive proof of more than 20% ethanol.
- Many people have experienced and are continuing to experience very costly (and polluting) fuel injector malfunction and failure caused by ethanol. The plastic used in the injector parts in many cars up to about 1998 are attacked by ethanol and swell and crack. Replacement parts are made of the same plastic and also fail. On some cars subject to this failure, it can cost over $1,000 to replace a single failed injector, and the new part may fail in just a few months from the same condition.
Statements by the ethanol industry about 30 years of experience with the additive are valid concerning time but omit the known problems caused by high ethanol levels in many cars. Nor do they consider the decrease in engine efficiency (5-15% more fuel use) caused by ethanol blends in many cars and trucks.
I am a chemical engineer with 35 years of good experience in refining, consulting, and energy alternative development.
Keith E. Bowers
Consultant
Houston
