The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it would temporarily allow widespread sales of a higher ethanol gas blend in a move that they hope will tamp down consumer prices that have soared since the Iran war began.

The sale of E15 is typically discontinued in the summer because it can contribute to harmful air pollution.

Not all are convinced the move will substantially lower gas prices. E15 isn't available in all states and some places don't have the necessary infrastructure or enough of a supply of ethanol to ramp up use, said Kenneth Gillingham, a professor at the Yale School of the Environment who studies the impacts of transportation regulations on prices, emissions and consumer welfare.

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[–] 109 points 6 months ago (35 children)

Plus, higher ethanol content in fuel reduces its energy density, so while this will certainly reduce prices, it will make people buy gas more often. Meaning.. Not a great fix.

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    [–] 55 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    This country will do anything except harvest the power from that big yellow ball in the sky.

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    [–] 40 points 6 months ago* (3 children)

    Ethanol, made from corn, fertilized with…?

    Short term thinking got the USA into the mess. More short term thinking is the answer, right?

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    [–] 25 points 6 months ago (7 children)

    Remember, more than 10% ethanol is not advised by most manufacturers and may harm your engine.

    If this is implemented, it would be better to find ethanol free providers.

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    [–] 15 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (11 children)

    The Trump administration is going to wreck my engine, isn't it.

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    [–] 14 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Just replaced a fuel hose that was 5 years old but had rotted though. It’s because of ethanol.

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    [–] 13 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    "FUCK YOUR ENGINE, LOL!"

    -EPA I guess

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    [–] 12 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

    But trump said we don’t need anything from anyone and we already won the war…

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  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago (1 child)

    stuffing corn cob into gas tank EAT IT

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago

    Fun fact, this raises the price of corn, and other grains (less of it if they grow more corn) which is mostly used for animal feed. Fertilizer prices will be much higher if corn for ethanol "steals it" from other food.

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  • [–] 10 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (11 children)

    This thread is predictable, fueled by oil and gas bot misinformation.

    Brazil sells E100 fuel, and it's $3.30 a gallon, cars run cooler, cleaner and last longer due to no carbon build up and carbon deposits in oil.

    No cartel sets the price, and the fuel comes from biomass which captured the carbon during growth.

    Go to any drag strip, ethanol dragsters are popular.

    Also, these run on alcohol fuel and have for 60 years...

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (3 children)

    Ethanol can still cause carbon build up as it is made of carbon and at high temps can form carbon non polar byproducts

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    Isn't that the reason they still sell ethanol free gas, because it gunks up small engines?

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago*

    Sorta, but that's not usually from burning the fuel. Ethanol attacks rubber in older engines, so that can be a source of gunk.

    But usually it's because ethanol absorbs water and small engines often sit longer with fuel in them. Also, when gas with ethanol evaporates, it leaves a varnish that can clog stuff up.

    Also, it has more oxygen available and can burn hotter, which is rough for some small engines, especially air-cooled ones.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago

    Talk about misinformation. While it is true that race cars use exotic fuel such as this, they also get rebuilt and refreshed regularly and they also are designed around using fuel like this. Its like saying my Camry can run nitro methane fuel just because the guys at the drag strip do it. Furthermore, it takes a shit ton of land and carbon to grow food crops just to turn it into fuel, while millions of people go hungry.

    This isn't a solution for passenger vehicles.

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  • [–] 3 points 6 months ago (4 children)

    Does E100 work in standard car engines that were designed for standard gas?

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  • [–] 11 points 6 months ago* (2 children)

    Absolutely not. You need to have an ethanol content sensor and a ECU calibrated to run ethonol. You can make more horse power with ethonol because it burns cooler, and also because you burn more of it (more fuel being sprayed in cylinders acts as a coolant to some extent) however there is a greater consumption (less mpg). Also why u must have sensors and calibrated ECU as you will effectively run real lean on pure ethonol if ur car has no idea what it's burning. On ethonol you will get worse milage, although it's cheaper per gallon so cheaper to run but less range per tank. Modern cars are ok on 10-15% ethonol, but if attracts water into your fuel so gas spoils faster and it gums up as it dries out and will fuck up and clog carbs. It's also bad for old carb gaskets that aren't ethonol safe. This is why u always get that nasty yellow shit clogging the jets in ur lawnmower carbs or bike carbs after it sits all winter. Where I live I try to use ethonol free gas in all my carbed vehicles because ethonol is the devil for carbs (which is why it only got popular with the introduction of fuel injection), and always dodge ethonol if you know the vehicle is going to sit for any more than a couple months.

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  • [–] 5 points 6 months ago (2 children)

    The dumbest fucking thing.

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  • [–] 4 points 6 months ago

    If this is basically back winter blend pricing, then what, like 15 cents cheaper? It's not that drastic.

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