Lots of very intelligent people out there not buying into this Ethanol BS....sorry! my bad. Let me re-phrase, When purchasing higher octane for our Mini rides, does the bio-petro blends have an effect on performance? Hate to step on anyones toes but we deal with anywhere from 10 to 15% blend and do not have an option............
P.S. Honestly I wish we had diesel Mini rides like i see in Europe 40+ MPG

 

I sent BP a question about the percentage of ethanol in there premium. They never responded back. I'm going to see if Shell premium has ethanol in it. I know form dealing with older motorcycles you don't want to use ethanol in a carb bike.

 

Most fuels in the United States contain a 10% blend of ethanol and all modern vehicles are required to be able to run with this fuel blend. As far as I know there's no requirement for them to, but most gas stations do place labels on the pumps stating the 10% content. This is done mostly for emission reasons as ethanol does burn cleaner than just straight gasoline.
While you can't run E-85 in an unmodified MINI (although I'd like to as it's a cheap way to get 106 octane fuel) the 10% are perfectly acceptable. A lot of people don't fully understand ethanol and only look at dollar values or the drop in fuel economy (a result of few hydrogen atoms in it's structure) without looking at the positive environmental benefits, the national security benefits, and the benefits to domestic farmers who now have another option.
Despite my family having a large investment in a major oil company, I and a lot of other members in my family are strong proponents of ethanol and biofuels. For a quick and cost effective alternative to petroleum they are usually the best option since the average consumer isn't willing to change their buying habits and lifestyle in a way that would help.

 

Deviant, I would have to disagree. We have plenty of oil for gasoline. We just need to pump it out and build more refineries. We should use the corn for food (people and live stock). If we had a government that was afraid of the environmentalists gas would be $2.60 or less a gallon.

 

[quote=Deviant;2070457] This is done mostly for emission reasons as ethanol does burn cleaner than just straight gasoline.
quote]
Actually burning ethanol releases a gas called acetaldehyde that is a breathing irritant. I've read a report stating that as we go to ethanol things like ashma and other respitory ailments will increase.

 

Let's look at why ethanol is supposed to burn cleaner than straight gasoline in a car: it adds more oxygen content. That's right, it just leans out the fuel mixture in any non-feedback controlled car.

Considering how even carbureted cars from the eighties already had oxygen-sensor controlled feedback-loop systems that could compensate for this by automatically richening the mixture under most operating conditions (except WOT, cold start), we can see that it has virtually no effect on emissions in any modern car. How many cars from the seventies are still running around?

It is a lightly disguised government subsidy for corn farmers, that also happens to benefit governments because the reduced MPG (ethanol has 27% less energy density per volume than gasoline) means more gasoline tax revenue. Oil companies also benefit if it is mandated because the extra octane of ethanol allows the use of more cheaply refined gasoline to arrive at the same overall octane rating.

There is no benefit to you (less miles per tank, more expensive food) or the environment (more CO2 emissions from both worse MPG and from the petroleum used in corn farming and distillation). But it is win-win for some people

 

++1