Ethanol, bye bye

[Maynard Rupp]

We have been on a trip through Lake Okecheebe and around both sides of Florida. Most marinas now advertise "ethanol free gas". Sky had mentioned some time ago that ethanol is mixed in when the delivery truck is filled. That is the answer. Marinas are not required to have ethanol mixed gasoline so they are asking their suppliers not to mix that crap in their load of gasoline. Now here is the big surprise. The marinas are paying LESS for their gasoline because they are not requiring the supplier to add the ethanol. Life is good again for gas engined boaters.

 

[Walter P]

In Florida.......

Walt

 

[Maynard Rupp]

No Walt, a friend of mine talked to a marina in the Detroit area and they confirmed that fact.They tried to justify their high prices by telling him that they had to pay extra to get their gas without ethanol.

 

[bigbill]

just last weekend i stopped at two gas stations in alabama, and both of them had signs that said 100% gasoline, no ethanol... that's a good sign to see it on the streets also. bigbill

 

[67hat34c]

Dont get too excited. The ethanol industry is crying because they are loosing money. They want to boost to e12 to e15. This could also trickle down to marin gas.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

It is true that E20 has been considered and as compromise, they are now thinking about going to E15. I am in Florida right now and I noticed the fuel dock at Cape Coral advertised "no ethonal", so hopefully marine gas will not be affected.

 

[fissioneng]

I filled up on the Virginia portion of the Chesapeake last weekend and they also had a "no ethanol, no biodiesel" sign on their pumps. The operator told me that with the last batches of fuel he bought, that diesel was now less than gasoline again for the first time in a year.

 

[hyperfishing]

Thanks all for the great news!

 

[Walter P]

That is good news. I think NJ is so screwed up that we will be forced to use whatever they say. Oh well we do have the best politicians money can buy.

Walt

 

[stormchaser]

no biodiesel" sign on their pumps.

That's a shame, BD is GOOD for your engines. Without changing anything you can run up to about 20% BD. You will get a better cetane rating and better lubricity for your fuel pumps, really helps make up for the lack of sulfur. If you make just a few changes, you can run 100% BD in just about any older Diesel engine.

 

[fissioneng]

That's a shame, BD is GOOD for your engines.

What about for fiberglass fuel tanks? Does it cause the same problem as ethanol in gas?

 

[stormchaser]

Most tanks designed to store diesel fuel will store blends of B20 and above with no problem. On the other hand, Diesel fuel that’s had ethanol added to it, referred to as E diesel, would present a problem for FRP tanks in much the same way E10 gasoline has ravaged FRP gasoline tanks, however, it has many other far reaching ramifications for diesel powered vessels, including those with aluminum tanks, not the least of which is E diesel’s near gasoline-like flammability. My hope and belief is that E diesel will never become a reality.