Is adding ethanol to gas a positive or negative benefit to our country?

[RiverSlabber]

You hit the nail on the head arkman. Mive got a GM vehicle as well, never put e85 in it. Might save a buck or two but ill lose it in the worse mileage! I also agree that its dumb to use a food source for fuel.

[midcarolina]

As most others have said there is no benefit to ethanol in fuel..........It has been proven that it cost much more to produce ethanol than gas, makes everything corn related much more expensive, just another example of our gov. working bass akwards from basic common sense........

[Southern Chuter]

Good or bad is open for debate however I have been using it for years in various small engines; outboards and automobiles with no problems I can blame on ethanol. It does attract moisture so if your not going to use the engine for a period of time it's best to use an additive; this applies to all gasoline. It is also a cleansing agent so if you have an old engine that has never seen it and switch to ethanol it will loosen buildup in the fuel system causing problems. Below is a copy/paste from yamahaoutboards.com.

04. Are Yamaha engines compatible with E10 fuel?


All current models as well as most engines built since the late 1980’s have been designed with fuel system components that are tolerant to fresh fuel containing ethanol up to 10% (E10). Outboard fuel systems can still be affected by: water, dissolved gum, varnish, corrosion particles, and dissolved resins that E10 fuel has cleaned from the distribution system and your boat’s fuel tanks

[sky hawk]

Overall in my opinion I think ethenol as fuel is a failed experiment at alternative engery. Again just my opinion.

Yep. Ethanol as a fuel source is not profitable and has no benefit other than to put money in some politician's pocket. Why are my tax dollars subsidizing higher grain and higher beef prices? I wish they would end this failed experiment and let the free market dictate what is profitable. Such a waste. If they're gonna turn corn into ethanol it should be selling by the quart jar and not the gallon.

[Hanr3]

Gunk in your carburetor did NOT come from ethanol. What do you think the mechanics use to clean your carb, alcohol. Ethanol is version of alcohol. That gunk is crap your gasoline left behind that the ethanol is cleaning out. There is so much miss information out there it's unreal.

The only problem with ethanol is on older engines that still have seals, gaskets, and hoses made with rubber products that ethanol will eat.

Ethanol burns hotter than gasoline, which could also cause problems in older engines, not designed for the higher heat and/or needing a different spark plug.
Ethanol also has a higher octane rating than gasoline. Today it's blended with lower grade gas to achieve higher octane ratings. The only down side to ethanol is it doesn't have the same energy (BTU) as gasoline, thus you need to burn a little more to get the same gas mileage. There is a trade off though, the higher octane provides more power. The other plus is that ethanol cleans out all the crap that gasoline leaves behind.

Yes, when ethanol first came out, it created problems, it didn't play will with the old gaskets, seals, and hoses. No buddy liked lead free gas when it can out either, we had the same statements from the mechanics back then too. Today you can't buy gasoline with lead in it.

As for water in the gas, poppy cock. Your running a motor on water, your sucking in more moisture through the intake than your fuel system can introduce. Plus the air holds up to and including 100% moisture, rain. Your motor runs fine in the rain doesn't it? Air to fuel ratio is commonly thought to be 14 to 1, 14 parts air to 1 part fuel. Which is adding more water to your air fuel mixture? Let's assume that a 10% blend of ethanol does have water in it, how much water do you think it holds? Even at 100% you still have 80% gasoline. The problem occurs when phase separation occurs. It occurs in ethanol blended and non ethanol blended gasoline. Time is the enemy, if your going to leave it sit over a couple months, treat it. I bet most you nay-sayers still change your oil every 3,000 miles too!

One last fact, NASCAR started by back yard mechanics burning alcohol, moonshine. Today's modern race engines still burn alcohol derivatives, methanol, ethanol.
Sunoco Race Fuels | Alcohol and Octane

In short, ethanol is used as a racing fuel. Stop buying the hype from products promoting how bad ethanol is, they are trying to sell you products.

YOU too can make money on ethanol as a fuel, buy stocks of companies the produce it. Look up ADM (Archer Daniels Midland), they use corn for more than just ethanol. Ethanol is a by-product of other products they manufacture. Those other products you eat everyday and don't know it.

One other thing, the world is expecting to use 50+% more gasoline in the coming years. Where do you think that fuel is going to come from? Can you afford $8 a gallon? Ethanol offset's that demand and helps keep the costs down.

[clfarms1]

We had a massive drought 3 years ago that started with a drought in Russia that pushed up wheat prices here and the other commodities went up with it. As a result of the drought and lowered production, corn and beans reached record highs in price. Because of high grain prices and no pasture farmers sold off their cow herds. There was also a swine disease out break that drove up the price of pork and we are now seeing recovery in both cattle and hogs numbers. While ethanol has helped raise the price of corn, it has also lowered the money that is paid by the government in subsidies. soybeans are a main component in both animal feed and biodiesel the difference in lower fuel milage and lower cost of fuel makes E85 about the same as using regular. It is true that using corn for fuel isn't a good idea and with out the tax benefits and subsidies wouldn't pencil out but don't look for it to go away

[arkman]

One other thing, the world is expecting to use 50+% more gasoline in the coming years. Where do you think that fuel is going to come from? Can you afford $8 a gallon? Ethanol offset's that demand and helps keep the costs down.

No but I can't afford $8 per lb hamburger either. And I fail to see what racing fuel has to do with my truck?

Stop buying the hype from products promoting how bad ethanol is, they are trying to sell you products.

Yeah, and the people in the segment on Crappie Masters that started this thread weren't trying to sell us anything were they? Well, nothing except ethanol itself. :rolleyes:

[Hanr3]

How much is burger these days? Is it 50% cheaper since gas dropped in price by 50%? Nope. IS it any cheaper? Even the cost of transportation should show up in lower costs, have they? Who is keeping the profit now?

No clue what the original poster motive is. Doubt they own stock in ethanol, however they may want to get feedback like this before signing a promotional deal with ethanol producers.

I can tell you this, there are fuel additive companies getting rich by promoting the same propaganda that most have posted in this thread. Sure ethanol has problems, but what has been posted aren't them. Your buying the hype from the wrong companies.
Do I use ethanol in all my motors? NO, In motors made after the 90's yes. My boat motor was built in 1957, ethanol will eat it alive. I have to find and pay considerable more for 100% gasoline.

Racing fuel and your truck.
Simple- your burning racing fuel, just in a smaller percentage. IF gasoline was a superior product racing would be using it. It's not, they get more power out of ethanol than gasoline.

[Dlogfish]

How much is burger these days? Is it 50% cheaper since gas dropped in price by 50%? Nope, that burger theory isn't holding water.

No clue what the original poster motive is.

While the price of fuel may have gone down, the price of corn has not. Due to this you are paying $5 a pound for beef. Crappie masters is being sponsored by Missouri corn growers, so tell me who has a motive?

[clfarms1]

the price of corn has dropped over 50% in the last 18 months and the price of cattle has just been going up because there are less cattle on feed. The price of beef has alot more to do with the number of cattle than the price of corn, the meat packers are buying beef not corn so they really dont care about the price of corn just how much the cattle cost. If you have a lot of cattle the price goes down.