Ive tested the gas at all the local stations here in south Charlotte(shell,citco,bp/amoco/exxon and texaco) and all contain between 8-10% ethanol. Not surprising since NC doesn't require any pump labels and all the fuel comes on the pipeline. I did get 6 gallons of the texaco 100 octane today and it contains no ethanol. Too bad it costs 8 bucks a gallon.

 

Ooops, my bad! I've corrected it in my previuos post.

 

Missouri recently passed a law requiring all gas (if I remember correctly) to be ethanol blend, so she may have a hard time finding gas without ethanol.

 

If regular unleaded is 87 octane with 8-10% ethanol, I wonder what the quality of the
gasoline would have been without the ethanol added.

edit: forgot that if you don't use ethanol, you use something else (MDPE, etc.) to up the octane.

 

Exactly, although out of curiousity, you can figure out the octane rating of the base gasoline stock before the ethanol was added (assuming no other additives added along with the ethanol.)

The AKI of pure ethanol is about 100, and the AKI of the blended mixture is 87. Assuming 90% gasoline / 10% ethanol, you get:

(0.9 * X) + (0.1 * 100) = 87

X = 85.5 AKI

So ethanol is a pretty effective octane booster, although its lower energy density does offset some of the benefits.

 

10% ethanol blend is a requirement in many areas. It's in gasoline to help clean the air.

This is probably not an issue in Nebraska, but it's an important issue on Long Island, and if a 10% blend helps keep the air cleaner that's O.K. with me.

Prior to ethanol, the oil companies used an additive called MTBE, which has polluted our aquifers after leaching out from leaky gas station tanks, and is causing major problems with drinking water quality. Ethanol doesn't have this issue, so it's a much better choice.

 

the ethanol hasn't leeched out yet;the MTBE has had years to work it's way into the aquifer. The premium gas here (93 octane) has ethanol (up to 10%) also according to the pump stickers.

 

Apparently, MTBE is much nastier stuff compared to ethanol, and it's banned in NY, and many other states.

It's cost gas refiners millions and millions to clean up the pollution mess, and most have switched to ethanol, which also happens to be a better oxygenator than MTBE.

 

True, but ethanol is still better than MTBE, even if it does leach into the aquifers. Concentrations of MTBE as low as 40 parts per billion can cause problems with drinking water, and some cities have found their water supply polluted to the tune of 600 parts per billion or higher.

Ethanol is just ethyl alcohol - the same stuff that's in alcoholic drinks, so we know a lot more about its effects, and it's harmless up to levels a LOT higher than MTBE.

 

Actually, MTBE was a result of oil industry lobbyists. They owned the patents on MBTE and did not want to use ethanol because they would have to pay ADM and the like to use it. Within 3 years it was evident that MBTE was a major poison in our water supply. Hence Big Oil was forced to switch. Ethanol was originally added to boost octane after they stopped using lead, which was poisoning people and plants. Ethanol is much safer though not perfect.

 

My comment was in response to Fishbone blaming government for adding ethanol to 87.

While ethanol might be the best octane booster for gas, using it as a alternative fuel has many problems.

With current technologies, it takes more oil to create ethanol than the ethanol replaces.

USA corn farmers diverting their crops from food production to energy production has led to food shortages in many places.

Brazil is the world's largest producer of ethanol. They are cutting down rainforests to plant sugarcane for ethanol. This is having an adverse affect on the local climate, and may cause desertification in that area.

 

I tested the Shell gas I put in Artoo today. Caldwell NJ, but I suspect that Shell is consistent in NJ.

8%.

///Rich

 

That's good to know, especially since NJ is one of the states that doesn't have pump labeling requirements for ethanol content.

 

No. All the gas stations around here have up to 10% ethanol.

 

Well said Robin. Ethanol is pure government meddling.

BTW the 94 octane Chevron in my parts advertises that it contains no ethanol

 

Somebody tested the gas at many stations labled "up to 10%" and found a significant number actually had as high as 15%. That's what concerns me, and it's likely to happen any time the ethanol becomes cheaper than the gasoline. This can happen due to the incentives that are given to ethanol producers.

Also, it makes no sense that we can't get ethanol free gas for our boats and other products designed prior to ethanol laws.