E-15 rule to be waived

I've never seen E15 in the NYC/NJ/CT Metro area
All our gas has been E10 by default for decades now
87/89/93
Sunoco has to be special and offer 91 separately
I just checked, there's at best 8 E85 pumps in the region
There's more availability of CNG ⛽ , and that's sad
I don't think I'll be seeing any of it
Ever growing amount of 🔌 chargers
Maybe I should take the hint 🤔

For those older than myself
What happened to all the Methanol and Propane alternative fueled cars that were a thing in the 90s/early 2000s?



I've only ever seen/driven CNG (I work @ the gas company), electric, and gas/diesel

Propane, Biodiesel, LNG are scarce to non-existent

Hydrogen isn't really a thing on my coast
 
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Been using E15 year round for years in all my cars with zero issues and no drop in mpg. As of today, unleaded 87 (E10) is $3.84 while unleaded 88 (E15) is $3.58 per gallon. MN has been E10 for over a decade. Ethanol production is huge in Minnesota with the left over corn mash used for cattle feed so it is still used for "food".
 
Dumbest idea I've heard yet! I'd say 100% of ethanol is trucked into the terminals, so more diesel fuel will need to be burned to transport this ethanol to the terminals.
It was called a scam by certain people and a way to get votes from farmers when Trump tried it. Now it's supposed to save us money? Uh-Uh.
Not to mention further reducing fuel economy for the average driver.
Nobody said Biden was smart.
 
It's not a mandate, it's a waiver.

The EPA waived RVP rules after Hurricane Katrina, letting "fall blend" gas out a few weeks early.

This is not really that, though.

I'm perfectly aware of that.

Read the other posts acting like this will be a mandate and consumers will be forced to use it...

Reality is it would allow another choice for the consumer. Nothing more or less.
 
I've never seen E15 in the NYC/NJ/CT Metro area
All our gas has been E10 by default for decades now
87/89/93
Sunoco has to be special and offer 91 separately
I just checked, there's at best 8 E85 pumps in the region
There's more availability of CNG ⛽ , and that's sad
I don't think I'll be seeing any of it
Ever growing amount of 🔌 chargers
Maybe I should take the hint 🤔

For those older than myself
What happened to all the Methanol and Propane alternative fueled cars that were a thing in the 90s/early 2000s?



I've only ever seen/driven CNG (I work @ the gas company), electric, and gas/diesel

Propane, Biodiesel, LNG are scarce to non-existent

Hydrogen isn't really a thing on my coast


I saw a propane fueled taxi when I was on a trip to Asia. It was really weird too as we had luggage, but when it came time to put it in the trunk, about half of the trunk was taken up by a supplemental propane tank. My understanding is that most of them are conversions.

Not sure about methanol. CART and the Indy 500 used methanol for decades, then IndyCar before they moved to E85. There's nothing inherently bad about methanol if the system is purpose built for it. However, I remember back when my owner's manual (late 80s) said that up to 5% methanol was acceptable in my fuel, but only if it included corrosion inhibitors. Back then they said up to 15% MTBE or 10% ethanol. Haven't seen that in ages.

Our local bus operator had hydrogen fuel cell buses. That's really electric, but where the fuel cell is producing the electricity. I could see the fueling station at the yard, which was visible from elevated rail transit cars. I think the hydrogen was generated on site by hydrolysis. This wasn't the one I remember, but they seemed to have hydrogen set up at a different site. The last time I saw the one I originally remember was removed.

The-Linde-hydrogen-station-at-AC-Transits-Emeryville-Division.png
 
Back then they said up to 15% MTBE or 10% ethanol. Haven't seen that in ages.

MTBE is what was used as an oxygenate in this area (EPA non-attainment area so oxygenated gas, also known as RFG, reformulated gas, is required). But MTBE can get into groundwater and a very small amount of MTBE will make water taste bad. The oil companies wanted indemnity from their use of MTBE, the Feds wouldn't give it to them, so we get ethanol instead of MTBE because the oil companies don't want the liability from using MTBE if it spoils someone's well water.

It seemed to me that gasoline with MTBE had a different odor compared to gasoline without it.
 
MTBE is what was used as an oxygenate in this area (EPA non-attainment area so oxygenated gas, also known as RFG, reformulated gas, is required). But MTBE can get into groundwater and a very small amount of MTBE will make water taste bad. The oil companies wanted indemnity from their use of MTBE, the Feds wouldn't give it to them, so we get ethanol instead of MTBE because the oil companies don't want the liability from using MTBE if it spoils someone's well water.

It seemed to me that gasoline with MTBE had a different odor compared to gasoline without it.

Yeah - I remember that. MTBE had a nasty habit of leaking a lot easier than ethanol. Not sure why though. However, I think the oil companies liked it because they actually made it themselves with methanol and other chemicals they could produce. And it could be transported by pipeline. But it had a faint smell similar to wintergreen, but I heard in water it tasted a lot like turpentine.

Still - there is a mandate for a certain amount of renewable fuel, even if there aren't tax credits per se.
 
MTBE doesn't leak from underground storage tanks any easier than gasoline (or ethanol for that matter).

It is much more soluble in water than the other components of gasoline or ethanol, and as a result moves much faster and further than the rest of it when it hits groundwater. On top of that, very low concentrations of it make water taste very unpleasant. Combine the two factors, and that was enough reason to stop using it. Tanks still leak, but the components don't move as fast...
 
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