Ethanol mandates could ruin marine, small engines

With the primary boating season upon us, beware: The U.S. EPA continues its embrace of the Renewable Fuel Standard, doggedly requiring fuel suppliers to use increasingly higher quantities of ethanol. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, January set new ethanol production records.In order to accommodate ethanol production goals and use mandates, pre-calculated quantity levels are not being matched to reduced fuel demand. Instead, a higher concentration of ethanol is expected to be blended into shrinking amounts of gasoline.The ethanol industry is pushing for widespread use of a more likely damaging mix of 15 percent ethanol/85 percent gasoline (E-15) from the current regular gasoline ratio of 10 percent ethanol/90 percent gasoline (E-10).Most automobiles built before 2001 cannot operate on E-15, and Stihl and other lawn tool manufacturers warn against its use in small engines.U.S. Department of Energy and EPA-supported testing concluded that most light-duty vehicles manufactured after 2001 could safely burn E-15. The major automobile manufacturers countered that using E-15 in their vehicles not designed to burn it will void the warranty, putting drivers in their crossfire.The Boat Owners Association of the United States warns that boaters will continue to see reduced production of ethanol-free fuels, known as E-0 or boat gas sold locally at several gas stations and marinas.Marinas in particular provide the E-0 blend for their customers, specifically trying to avoid marine engine damage and breakdowns known to occur because of fuel separation in E-10 fuel blends.Ethanol in gasoline causes damage in small and older engines with hoses and gaskets not designed to resist the higher corrosive tendencies of alcohol. E-10 is also subject to stratification, where it can cause octane level variations and water absorption over time that reduce fuel combustion and efficiency.BoatUS reports that the number of gallons available of E-0 nationwide during 2016 went from a high of 9.2 billion gallons to about 130 million gallons last year, meeting only one-half of the demand. 2017's projected production level is not yet available.These deep production cuts are also in response to refineries being forced to switch production toward using more of the glut of ethanol.Even if the law had the good intentions of reducing air pollution, conserving oil-based fossil fuels and/or lowering oil imports, too much corn production translates to less wildlife, lower species diversity, fewer pollinators and lower water tables where irrigation is used.After corn prices temporarily jumped by ethanol-driven demand, millions of acres of wetlands, virgin prairie grasslands and other valuable, environmentally-sensitive areas were placed into production, instead of keeping them idle for conservation purposes.Moreover, poorer water quality because of soil erosion and more algae blooms in Western Lake Erie and dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico from excess nutrient run-off has resulted.Millions of more acres that were once enrolled into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) that led to dramatic population increases of ducks, pheasants and other wildlife were allowed to expire.Corn prices have now softened, likely due to higher production levels, yet the number of CRP acres has remained flat, because of the acreage cap imposed by the 2014 Farm Bill.BoatUS surveys have shown that one-half of their respondents reported suspected engine damages linked to E-10 fuels that resulted in an average repair bill of $1,000. The option of E-15 at pumps will cause the problem to rise considerably when operators purchase the fuel based upon price without understanding the consequences of using higher ethanol content fuels.BoatUS urges us to help convince congress to relax these ethanol mandates to maintain adequate supplies of E-0 blends and suffer from more vehicle and lawn tool damages.Sportsmen lose disproportionately because of habitat losses linked to overproduction of corn on marginal lands better suited for wildlife habitat, higher ownership rates of boats, outboard motors, ATVs, snowmobiles and gasoline powered ice augers damaged by these ill-suited fuel blends.Those of us who use snow blowers, chainsaws, leaf blowers, weed whackers, roto tillers or log splitters that inferior fuel blends famously cause damage to need to be especially conscious to not allow degraded fuel to remain in tanks.I use an expensive fuel substitute, called Trufuel to safely allow long periods of inactivity between uses of my ice auger and lawn care equipment with the troublesome E-10 gasoline blends.To locate local locations that continue to be able provide E-0 (boat gas), check ahead from the lists posted on these web sites: pure-gas.com and buyrealgas.com.