Marc Rauch

I guess you didn't understand my point, which is that any problem you can attribute to ethanol is actually caused by gasoline. The simplest proof of this is that any problem that exists with today's ethanol-gasoline blends existed in the decades before ethanol-gasoline blends were being regularly used in America (after the enactment of the Renewal Fuel Standard). I first encountered vapor lock when I bought my first new car in 1973 (a 1974 Pontiac Grand Prix). This was still in the days of leaded gasoline, no ethanol other than what I consumed during dinner. I was in Florida when it first happened, and then when I relocated back to New York it happened there, too. You mentioned open venting systems as being particularly susceptible to ethanol. This is untrue, and Mercury Marine (the world's largest manufacturer of marine engines) agrees it is untrue, and of course boats typically have have open vented systems. Mercury did an online ethanol seminar in 2011 and they discuss this, in addition to addressing the ethanol hygroscopy issue. Keep in mind that Mercury sells all of its same motors in Brazil where the standard mandated fuel is E27. You can watch the seminar at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GbkmY7TMKMg

Hi Matt - Thanks for your reply, but based upon your reply it's clear you didn't do much or any research on my background and don't know anything about the vehicles that I've owned, worked on, and restored. These include a 1958 MGA, a 1932 Elco yacht with the original Chrysler engine, and a 1956 Bentley S1 (this was my daily driver for a little over 20 years). I've also owned a wide variety of ICE power equipment. It's entirely possible that you have owned more older vehicles than me. However, there's some things I learned from restoring the MGA when I was 17 years old, that would be true right up to today with all internal combustion engine vehicles. For example: all spark plugs screw in and screw out the same way; the red cable goes to the positive terminal and the black cable goes to the negative terminal; fan belts and hoses require replacement and they all virtually attach in the same manner; condensation is a naturally occurring condition; gasoline will go bad over time; and the inefficient burning of gasoline causes the build-up of debris that will clog filters and foul plugs. Added to the experience and knowledge gained from owning the aforementioned vehicles, I've been an automotive journalist for more than 30 years, and I've specialized in covering alternative fuels for about 20 years. My work on alternative fuels includes extensive hands-on testing of these fuels, and it's led to writing and publishing hundreds of articles, two books, and producing several videos on the subject. From this experience, I can tell you flat out and without any reservation that every single problem that is blamed on ethanol today already existed prior to the ubiquitous use of ethanol-gasoline blends in the United States. And every single problem caused by ethanol-gasoline blends since the enactment of the Renewable Fuel Standard is caused by the gasoline portion of the fuel, not the ethanol portion. Unfortunately, you leap from one negative myth about ethanol to another. For example, you wrote that "ethanol's attraction to water is a problem." This is not true, ethanol's absorption characteristics is a benefit. As I'm sure you well know, ethanol is simply an alcohol, and alcohols are the active ingredients in most of the better known engine additives that are used to remove the water that forms due to condensation. Products such as Dry Gas and HEET were developed and sold beginning in the 1950s in America - again, way before the enactment of the Renewable Fuel Standard (roughly half a century before). The regular use and availability of ethanol-gasoline blends in Great Britain and the rest of Europe from the early 1900s through the 1970s proved that all of the "antique" cars you can think of were capable of running safely and efficiently on these blends or on ethanol-free gasoline. The use of ethanol-gasoline blends in Brazil starting in the 1920s proves the same thing, and Brazil's regular mandated use of ethanol-gasoline blends above E15 since 1978 cemented that fact. In the past several years, E20 and above has been the mandated fuel in Brazil. The significance here is that Brazil has the same diverse "fleet" of vehicles on their roads as we have in America. If older vehicles with carburetors can run safely and efficiently on any street in Brazil using E20-E27, then they can run safely and efficiently on any street in North America using E20-E27. In the research I've done for my articles and books, I've yet to come across any evidence that the vehicles in Europe and Brazil using ethanol-gasoline blends in the 20th century suffered greater problems than those vehicles using ethanol-free gasoline. You mention an issue of vapor-pressure being so different in today's fuels than in the fuels of yesteryear, and that this issue can cause a problem for older cars with carburetors. Other than anecdotal evidence from people like Jay Leno, I know of no undisputed proof that any change in vapor-pressure has been a problem. If you have some material that supports your claim please post links to it. I will study it and respond accordingly. In support of my comments, here are some links to my published papers that you may find interesting: The Hypocrisy of Big Oil https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2017/12/20/478776-hypocrisy-big-oil.html UK's Department for Transport Uses Boogeyman Allusions to Sidetrack E10 Adoption https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2018/09/02/626528-uk-s-department-for-transport-uses-boogeyman-allusions-to-sidetrack.html YES, TIN LIZZIE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2019/04/20/660939-yes-tin-lizzie-was-alcoholic.html Every Spark-Ignited Internal Combustion Engine Ever Produced Has Been Damaged By Gasoline http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/06/12/248417-every-spark-ignited-internal-combustion-engine-ever-produced-has-been.html Why Do Small Engines Suffer From Ethanol Problems? http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2015/09/01/140446-why-do-small-engines-suffer-from-ethanol-problems-video.html Ethanol Does NOT Suck Water Out Of The Air http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2016/03/18/209988-ethanol-does-not-suck-water-out-air.html Famous Manufacturer of Anti-Ethanol Additives Proves Ethanol's Safety and Benefits https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2019/08/10/677743-is-it-is-or-is-it-ain-t-famous-manufacturer.html Automotive Aftermarket Saturated with Snake Oil Engine Additives https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2019/08/16/680489-automotive-aftermarket-saturated-with-snake-oil-engine-additives.html Bell Performance Disputes Our Ethanol Hygroscopy Test and THEY FAIL MISERABLY! https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2020/04/07/806727-bell-performance-disputes-our-ethanol-hygroscopy-test-they-fail-miserably.html Testing Anti-Ethanol Tests https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2019/10/23/729704-testing-anti-ethanol-tests.html Why Is Jay Leno Misrepresenting Ethanol http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2015/03/09/126358-why-is-jay-leno-misrepresenting-ethanol-video.html

This is my first visit to this website. I came here because one of my readers told me he read a post about me that included a reprint of an article I wrote about ethanol in January 2013, and then a nasty criticism to my article in following month by someone identified as "jdome." The article is at the very top of this page. First, I appreciate the reprint of my article. Regarding the nasty criticism, I recognize that it is now nearly 10 years later. If I had known of the comment earlier, I would have responded then. I have to laugh at jdome's comment for a couple of reasons, the first being that he makes the criticism behind the anonymity of an invented screen name, and he offers no references to denigrate my comments, nor does he hint about what credentials he might have to be able to make the criticism and call my article an "unprofessional agenda driven rant." The second thing is that it was correct in January 2013 to say that The Auto Channel was the "The Largest Independent Automotive Information Source." And now, nearly 10 years later it is still true. Moreover, while I had considerable expertise about ethanol fuel in 2013, I have even greater expertise now. And I can say for even greater certainty that what I wrote in 2013 was completely accurate. As I wrote at the time, E15 is as safe to use as E10, and this has been proven many times. In 2017, I authored an essay titled "The Hypocrisy of Big Oil." The essay can be found at: https://www.theautochannel.com/news/2017/12/20/478776-hypocrisy-big-oil.html. This report chronicled the extensive multi-decade use of ethanol-gasoline blends in Great Britain. The blends ranged as high as E30 and were sold by divisions of Standard/Esso and Cities Service. They were marketed as being safer, cleaner, more powerful, and less expensive than standard gasoline. Meanwhile, in the United States, Standard/Esso was busy inventing lies about ethanol and disseminating them via the American Petroleum Institute, just as I stated in my January 2013 article. The article also mentioned the extensive use of alcohol-gasoline blend in other European countries over much of the same time period. The upshot of this report is that virtually every European car that is considered a valuable classic today had the ability and opportunity to run on these blends without any damage being done to the automobiles outside of the normal wear and tear that they would have experienced from non-ethanol gasoline. In addition, my articles since 2013 about Brazil's use of E15 and higher blends beginning in 1978 has proven the safety and efficiency of these fuels. In the last several years, the mandated fuel in Brazil increased to E20, E25, and E27. The vehicles in Brazil (cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats) are the same as used in America. If these vehicles can safely and efficiently run on E27 on the streets of Rio de Janeiro, then they can run on E27 on any street in America, Canada, England, France, Australia, Japan, etc. Regarding other negative comments about ethanol that appear above, I have responded to and dispensed with all of them in the hundreds of reports I've written and published since 2013. Many of then are included in my 600-page book, "THE ETHANOL PAPERS," that was published online and in paperback about three years ago. My second book about ethanol fuel is titled "YES, TIN LIZZIE WAS AN ALCOHOLIC." As the name suggests, the focus in on the Ford Model T having been designed and built to be fully capable of running on ethanol or any ethanol-gasoline blend. This is a much shorter book. Incidentally, while both books can be purchased via Amazon Books, they are both available to be read online for FREE. If you visit The Auto Channel's website and do a search of the books' names it will take you to the appropriate pages. I'll close with the comments that I routinely make about ethanol fuel: All negative comments about ethanol fuel are incorrect. They are either lies, exaggerations, or myths. They were mostly invented by the petroleum oil industry. Ethanol doesn't harm engines, it cleans engines. It doesn't suck water out of the air, but it will absorb water that naturally forms because of condensation. Gasoline can't do this so people have to resort to using engine additives that can cost as much as 2 or 3 gallons of gasoline. All liquids are corrosive, especially water. However, ethanol is less corrosive and compatible with more types of rubber, plastic, and metal than gasoline and aromatics. BTU values (energy content) are irrelevant when discussing internal combustion engines. Ethanol use does not affect the availability or price of food. If someone is disseminating negative information about ethanol fuel they are WRONG! I don't care who they are, where they went to school, or who they know; there are no negatives to using ethanol fuel. If anyone would like to debate me in public - on a live stage or online - I am available. The only requirement is that the person(s) has to be willing to identify themself. They can't hide behind a silly screen name.