Get ready for E15. The push is real...

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wemay

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http://www.omaha.com/opinion/the-public-...d409d4de1e.html

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The Environmental Protection Agency has taken a series of actions to tilt the playing field toward oil companies, so it’s up to Perdue to steer regulators in the right direction and restore demand for farm crops that supply the energy in every gallon of ethanol.

Fortunately, Trump has offered his support for a plan to lift the archaic EPA ban on selling E15 fuel during the summer, depriving consumers of a low-cost option with 15 percent ethanol.
 
Originally Posted By: MParr
I hope it never happens. The article is an opinion piece by a state legislator from Nebraska.


From a state where the majority of their ag crop is corn. If the car owners truly know anything, they won't be pushing this.
 
It’s been here at all new KT stations where they have 4-nozzle pumps installed. I use these stations a lot and like the fact that each fuel gets is own nozzle...my bikes and OPE don’t get any alcohol.

I’m going to try it out for a few tanks in my GTI. VW says it’s ok and I’m the perfect test candidate. I drive ~3k miles/month so it’s not going to sit around in my tank to corrode things or phase-change. I’m just curious what it does to mileage/cost.

The bad news for the unknowing public is the mandatory sticker on the pumps says 2001 and newer cars are fine, but not all automakers say that. I have a feeling with the rising gas prices people will try to save the 4 cent/gallon price and rot their fuel system.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Why worry about 15% when upto 85 has been available for years?


Because E10 is what's available at 99% of the pumps. It's very hard to find pure gasoline where I live. Nearest spot is an hour away.

E15 would replace E10.

Many cars, including my MB, have warnings against use of anything above 10% ethanol and recommend the use of fuel without ethanol.

For my flex-fuel Tundra, I'm fine with whatever, but for my other cars, E15 is potentially damaging to the older fuel system components.
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Why worry about 15% when upto 85 has been available for years?


Because this

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o...article4197860/

and the fact that not everyone has cars capable of taking more than 10%

Once all you could find at the local pumps is 15% or worse you’re doomed.

If things seem to go that way my next car will most likely be a diesel.
laugh.gif
 
Sheets is the only stations I have seen E-15. They still have E-10.
 
I wish some politician or gov bureaucrat would slap those farmers and their interest back down and just tell them NO!!!

Take your corn and shove it where the sun don't shine. NO CORN IN OUR GAS TANKS!
 
Originally Posted By: Olas
Why worry about 15% when upto 85 has been available for years?


Because E85 can only be put into cars that have fuel systems that are built for it (Flex Fuel cars). Those cars are a great blessing to automakers trying to meet CAFE standards, because the government only considers the 15% gasoline content in their fuel economy rating. This makes a full-size pickup truck getting 15 MPG on E85 apparently capable of 100 MPG (15 miles driven / .15 gallons of gasoline burned).
The EPA has been trying to force E15 down our throats since about 2009. It would be a replacement for E10, which is in almost all gasoline, except for the very few pumps that are marked as pure gasoline.
The government has a problem in that since they mandated explicit targets for ethanol production in the Renewable Fuels Standard, annual production hasn't reached the goals for the past few years. So to increase demand, the EPA came up with the idea to increase E10 to E15, thereby doubling "demand" for ethanol. The problem is that E15 will degrade fuel system seals and metals in older cars. And then there is the problem that more ethanol blended into the fuel means less energy, so fuel economy would suffer.
 
Originally Posted By: bubbatime
I wish some politician or gov bureaucrat would slap those farmers and their interest back down and just tell them NO!!!

Take your corn and shove it where the sun don't shine. NO CORN IN OUR GAS TANKS!
The farmers have no control. They're basically slaves having to buy more land, bigger equipment, and fancy chemicals and seed to play in the game. The big multinationals run this show.
 
If we didn't waste all the ethanol in E10 and other scams we'd have plenty for E85 for a competitive price vs gasoline. I'd have no problem running E85 if it saved me money.
 
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This is disingenous as burning ethanol produces CO2 too. If CO2 is the concern then it all looks like a monumental case of double standards.
 
I dont mind e10 in the car, but since my car says no to e15 and it wont be any cheaper.. kind of pointless.

E85 here is usually around 20cents cheaper than e10.. what is the point?

I would pay 20cents more for ethanol free.. unfortunately that hasnt caught on.

Since this will require either new gas pumps or the blending kind
.. not sure how fast it will catch on.

IIRC
The blending gas pump will take the regular 87 octane and mix it with e85 to make e15
 
E15 is already for sale, year around in this area. Most Kwik Trips sell it and market it as "Super 88" (It is 88 Octane). It is generally priced at 5 cents a gallon less than E10 97 octane.

It is marketed at those who pull up to the pump and look for the lowest price. For a while, it was the low price highest on the sign, which used to always be 87 octane E10, but when you came in and filled up and bought 87 E10, it was more expensive - made Kwik Trip more money.

I tried one tank of it in my 2016 F150 (which does allow E15), and based on the fuel mileage decrease, the cost needs to be more than 5 cents less a gallon then E10 to make it "break even" in my truck. And that was when gas was running around 2.20 a gallon. Now its 2.80+

At least Kwik trip is clear in its labeling. A few local Holiday Stations also have E15, but the labeling stinks...
 
Twice, I've been at Kwik Trips getting gas with both my dad and my uncle - separate times - and they have both started filling up with E15 accidentally until I pointed it out. And I'd even told my dad about their E15 push before.

Personally, I don't like how Kwik Trip is labeling its E15. The pump says "Unleaded 88", and there's a small "E15" label farther down at about knee level on the pump. And I thought that their marketing of it last year where they priced E15 like everyone else's E10, and their own E10 more expensive, was very slimy. (This is coming from someone who really likes Kwik Trip, too. They are a great company, I just hate that they are pushing E15 so much like it's this great thing.) But Holiday's labeling is even worse. Perhaps the "88 OCTANE" label should be blue and say "15% ETHANOL" on it, or something.

My problem with this push towards E15 is that all three of our cars, a 2010, 2012, and 2015, explicitly prohibit ethanol >10%. So I'm not sure what will have to happen.
 
Originally Posted By: A_Harman
Because E85 can only be put into cars that have fuel systems that are built for it (Flex Fuel cars). Those cars are a great blessing to automakers trying to meet CAFE standards, because the government only considers the 15% gasoline content in their fuel economy rating. This makes a full-size pickup truck getting 15 MPG on E85 apparently capable of 100 MPG (15 miles driven / .15 gallons of gasoline burned).

That should also mean that the 10% ethanol is excluded when calculating CAFE mpg. And further means that CAFE ratings will go up with E15. This may be the real push behind supporting E15.

There already is a push for 95 octane fuel.

All these changes being pushed onto the driving public are to chase the almighty CAFE mandates, which are artificially chosen. Unfortunately, these changes translate to higher cost per mile for the driving public.
 
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