Here's a rather interesting article on "What is Real Gas"? I don't think anyone who has experienced the nightmares of ethanol gas really questions what real gas is...........
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Idaho Mountain Express and Guide
‘Real gas’—what does it mean?
Some retailers are rejecting ethanol-based fuel
Signs
for "real gas"—that is, gas not blended with ethanol, a corn-based
fuel additive
have been cropping up all
over the valley, and proponents say it's better for cars, better for small
engines and possibly better for Idaho farmers.
What is
ethanol?
Ethanol
is a corn-based fuel, related to the intoxicating ingredient found in alcoholic
beverages. It's nothing new—according to numerous sources, the original Model T
Ford was able to run on ethanol.
A
federal mandate issued in 2006 required oil refiners to blend 36 billion
gallons of renewable fuel—including 15 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol—into
gasoline by 2022. That's why, unless
otherwise noted, most gas stations use gasoline that has been blended with the
corn-based biofuel.
"The
EPA mandates that we use a certain number of gallons of ethanol each
year," said Carlton Carroll, spokesman for the American Petroleum
Institute in Washington, D.C. "We're reaching the point where refineries
are required to blend ethanol into almost 100 percent of their gas."
Ethanol
economy
Inherently,
there is nothing wrong with ethanol fuels, most experts agree. The Renewable
Fuels Association, an ethanol industry group, estimates that 62 percent of cars
on the road today can withstand gas with an even higher amount of ethanol
included than is currently available. Carroll said that ethanol
fuel actually has a higher performance level than regular petroleum. "It does have higher octane than regular gasoline," he
said—an estimated 113 rating as opposed to regular unleaded's 87 rating.
An
85 percent ethanol blend is the official race fuel of the Indy 500, and all
drivers are required to use it.
But
for everyday driving, Carroll said, ethanol-blended fuel might not be the best
choice.
"The downside to ethanol-blended gasoline is that it
doesn't get you as far," he said.
Dusty
Wendland, manager of the Uptown Mini-Mart in Hailey and the Mountain View
Grocery Express just south of Ketchum, said he's found that ethanol-blended
gasoline actually reduces a car's fuel efficiency by about 4 percent.
The Department of Energy reports that ethanol is actually
even less efficient than Wendland's estimates—30 percent less efficient than
pure petroleum-based gasoline.
"We're
not reducing oil dependency, and you're getting less-quality gas,"
Wendland said. "The stuff they're using locally in the valley is still 90
percent fossil fuel, [but] you're not 10 percent less reliant on fossil
fuels."
Consumers
must use more fuel in order to drive the same number of miles, Wendland
said—and because ethanol blends are cheaper than nonblended gasoline,
distributors have a bigger profit margin.
Wendland
said the gas he buys comes at a premium of 8 to 15 cents per gallon, giving his
competitors a higher profit.
"If
you're making a dime extra [per gallon], that's $200 a day," he said, as
his station in Hailey typically sells 2,000 gallons each day. In addition, Wendland said he has to obtain gas from Montana,
which increases his costs even further.
But it's not just the die-hard
"real gas" retailers who are suffering. Idaho Farm Bureau spokesman
John Thompson said Idaho farmers can't grow enough corn to feed their
livestock, and the rising cost of corn due to ethanol has raised their costs.
"The
corn that gets made into ethanol here in Idaho all comes mainly from
Nebraska," he said. "It helps keep the price higher than it would be.
Over 30 percent of the corn grown in the country [is made into ethanol]."
And
the rising costs don't always result in higher market prices for farmers' beef,
Thompson said.
"There's
not always that connection," he said. "All red meat prices are higher
now because we have had that terrible drought in Texas ... so that has reduced
the availability of red meat and the prices have gone up. But it's not
necessarily directly related to ethanol."
In
other words, Thompson said, Idaho farmers are paying more for corn and not
getting more for their cows, due to the nation's use of ethanol. Still,
Thompson said the organization supports the use of ethanol fuel.
"Our
organization has supported ethanol because every gallon of ethanol we produce
reduces our dependence on foreign crude," he said. "But the livestock
industry doesn't like it."
Proponents
argue that ethanol contributes to the U.S. economy and drives fuel prices down.
According to a study from the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development,
America's use of domestically produced ethanol reduced wholesale gas prices by
an average of $1.09 a gallon in 2011—up from $0.89 in 2010.
Report
co-author Dermot Hayes told the Renewable Fuels Association that ethanol has
helped alleviate a number of fuel supply problems in the United States.
"It
is as if the U.S. oil refining industry had found a way to extract 10 percent
more gasoline from a barrel of oil," he said, adding that periodic
gasoline shortages caused by refinery capacity are essentially a thing of the
past.
"It
... allowed the U.S. to switch from being a net importer of gasoline to a net
exporter," he said "As a result of these changes, U.S. gasoline
prices are measurably lower than would otherwise have been the case."
The
Renewable Fuels Association estimates that because of the price drop, the
average American family—one that consumed the national average of 1,124 gallons
of gasoline in 2011—saved roughly $1,200 last year. A study from the Global
Renewable Fuels Alliance reported that in 2010, the global biofuels industry
supported 1.4 million jobs and is expected to support 2.2 million jobs by 2020.
Ethanol
as fuel
According
to the Renewable Fuels Association, ethanol is safe for use in all cars and
small engines. In fact, the organization's website states that 62 percent of
all cars on the road today can handle gasoline with an even higher ratio of
ethanol than is used currently, and that most warranties cover the use of
ethanol-blended gas in small engines such as those in lawnmowers and
snowmobiles.
But Randy Van Dyke, president of a
motorcycle riding group called the Idaho Mountain Dirt Riders Association, said
he flat-out refused to use ethanol-blended fuel in his bikes—or any of his
other vehicles, for that matter.
"It's really a terrible
product," he said. "It destroys the carburetors [on bikes]. Almost
everyone I know gets less gas mileage and their cars run terrible."
Randy
Goddard, co-owner of Woodside Motor Sports in Hailey, said it's true that
ethanol is hard on smaller engines, such as those in motorcycles, snowmobiles
and even chainsaws and other gas-powered tools.
Ethanol
is a solvent, he said, which means it will dissolve "gunk" in the
vehicles' engines and plug up the vehicles' carburetors.
Sun
Valley Auto Club owner David Stone said the same is true for older, classic
cars—or anything older than model year 2000.
"The
cars aren't made for it," he said. "It will go in your engine, it
will free up that gunk and clog the fuel filter. Because of that, the fuel pump
dies. It's so bad."
Stone
said the valves and fuel pumps in older cars are also damaged by the ethanol.
"Anything
that's rubber, like rubber hoses, rubber valves—anything that's rubber, it
ruins it," he said. "Anything plastic or rubber, ethanol hurts."
However,
the Renewable Fuels Association says that newer cars are built to withstand the
ethanol blend, with higher-quality rubber, metal and plastic to prevent the
type of problems Stone is referring to.
Ethanol
and the environment
Even
if it damages older cars, the argument that ethanol reduces dependence on
foreign oil could be appealing. And when the federal mandate was issued,
conservationists said the possibilities of replacing fossil fuel with renewable
fuels seemed worth supporting.
"A
lot of environmentalists supported corn ethanol five years ago because the best
science at the time showed it could be a stepping stone," Nathanael
Greene, director of renewable energy policy for the Natural Resources Defense
Council, told the Christian Science Monitor in 2009. "The science
changed."
According
to the Renewable Fuels Association, the use of ethanol helps reduce carbon
emissions by anywhere from 30 to 50 percent. In 2011, carbon emissions were
reduced by 25.3 million metric tons due to the use of cleaner-burning ethanol.
However,
Courtney Washburn, community conservation director for the Idaho Conservation
League, said that ethanol as a whole does not make sense for Idaho's
environment.
"I
think a lot of people are led to believe that, but ethanol is not better for
the environment," she said. "The [mandate] for ethanol would have us
importing corn from other states, which would have us using more fuel. And
because of the energy that does into corn production already, putting more
energy into it to make it a fuel doesn't make it an environmental
benefit."
So what?
Stone,
Wendland and Van Dyke agreed that ethanol does not harm newer vehicles. Even
though the drivers may not get optimal gas mileage using it, newer cars,
especially those designated as "flex fuel" cars, have stronger
plastics and rubbers that can withstand the ethanol's dissolving powers.
Still,
Stone said he wouldn't use it—and he'd recommend that his customers don't
either.
