EPA ACKNOWLEDGES ETHANOL DAMAGES ENGINES

[impbarn]

I stumbled across this article in my usual new reading. New legislation could mean a relaxation in the methods used to rate the content of ethanol in our automobile fuel. 11 to 14% ethanol could be labeled as 10%. That will exceed manufacturer’s limitations on new vehicles and make our antiques run even worse on the ethanol contaminant.

The article suggests submitting comments via https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/autofuelratingscertnprm/

The AMA provided a pre-written set of comments which make some good arguments. I’ve modified those comments to make some more arguments against ethanol-blend fuels in general.

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As a member of many antique automobile groups (Tigers East Alpines East, Sunbeam Owners Fellowship, and the Antique Automobile Club of America), I am writing to express my concerns about the Federal Trade Commission’s proposed rule to provide requirements for rating and certifying ethanol blends and requirements for labeling blends of more than 10 percent ethanol.
This rule is for an additional label to be placed on the fuel pump “in response to the emergence of ethanol blends as a retail fuel and the likely increased availability of such blends.”
This proposal would cause even more confusion given the events surrounding the rollout of E15 into the marketplace. The AACA opposes E15 and any fuel containing more than 10 percent ethanol, because it can cause engine and fuel system failure on motorcycles and antique vehicles, and can void manufacturers’ warranties.
According to the EPA, “[e]thanol impacts motor vehicles in two primary ways. First … ethanol enleans the [air/fuel] ratio (increases the proportion of oxygen relative to hydrocarbons) which can lead to increased exhaust gas temperatures and potentially increase incremental deterioration of emission control hardware and performance over time, possibly causing catalyst failure. Second, ethanol can cause materials compatibility issues, which may lead to other component failures.”
“In motorcycles and antique products [using E15 and higher ethanol blends], EPA raised engine-failure concerns from overheating.”
I do not believe this new label will do what it is intended to do – keep users from inadvertent misfueling with higher ethanol blended fuels. It simply does not provide clear direction.
Another label on a blender pump that already has many labels will not be sufficient to avoid misfueling and could be easily overlooked. The proposed rule provides no direction on where on the pump the label should be located. Moreover, the FTC is proposing that the label be rounded to the nearest 10. How will this accurately inform the consumer of the type of fuel called for by the vehicle owner’s manual? Will a fuel containing 11 percent to 14 percent ethanol be labeled as 10 percent ethanol? Is the FTC aware that manufacturers’ warranties are valid only for the use of fuel containing 10 percent ethanol by volume or less?
The proposed rule does not address the central issue that real-world vehicle owners face, and that is that no motorcycle currently on the road is approved for any fuel with higher than 10 percent ethanol, and the risk of inadvertent misfueling is tremendous once higher blends are available at the pump. Furthermore, less efficient fuel causes more carbon dioxide production in our atmosphere. The technical fallacy of ethanol fuel is in the production of the product, which in digestion of starches and sugars, carbon dioxide is also produced in large quantities.
Help protect millions of motorcycles and antique vehicles in America — and the owners who depend on their safe operation — from inadvertent misfueling. All we want is safe access to fuel for our motorcycles and antique vehicles.

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