Ethanol-free gas a hot seller in Florida
While ethanol blended into gasoline can be a comparative good deal (or a possible scam), there's also good money to be made ignoring the biofuel altogether. At least, that's the case for two gas stations in Brevard County, Florida that proudly sell ethanol-free gasoline.
The driving force for the pure gasoline comes, unsurprisingly, from boaters and from motorcycle riders, but also people who want the extra mpgs that come from ditching ethanol. The fuel is sold as recreational gasoline and one station owner calls it a "more rare product." It will get even more rare in a few years. 2011 is a deadline for all gasoline sold in Florida - except for fuel intended for boats, collector cars and small engines - to contain at least some ethanol. For now, anyone can fill up using recreational gasoline, and Florida Today talked to some SUV and boat owners who were more than willing to drive out of their way to the two stations for the corn-free gas.
[Source: Florida Today]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tim 3:05PM (6/19/2009)
Do we have a "green" rebellion "brewing"?
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Matt 3:12PM (6/19/2009)
Naa, just people that love their rubber hoses and gaskets to stay damage free.
Snowdog 4:22PM (6/19/2009)
It never was green, so how can there be a green rebellion? Ethanol has been opposed since the beginning by green organizations like the Sierra Club. Only corn lobby beneficiaries and politicians (and Carney) pay lip service to ethanol being green.
More likely a combination of people with older engines of various types (marine, yard) that would be damaged, people would want better MPG from pure gas, and people who hate corporate welfare. Take your pick.
My regular station has both (or pretends to). They have an E10 pump, but I don't think there is a guarantee that the RUG pump is ethanol free though, but I assume most of the time it at least has less ethanol than the E10 pump. I gas up at the RUG pump.
It is the same price as the E10 pump and should net a small increase in MPG.
Wouldn't you choose pure gas if given the choice?
hall.claudia 11:41AM (8/08/2009)
I'm all for green initiatives, but three days ago we filled up our truck with gas containing ethanol. Immediately upon pulling out of the station, the truck had major fuel system problems (no power, tachometer going nuts, vehicle lunging). This gasoline was bad and now we have to pay $600 to repair it. I'm not hopeful that this is the end of the repairs. I'm guessing this problem will continue to damage our engine for some time. I hope BP/Amoco in Alachua, FL (Sunrise Marts) is happy they got the best of us.
Richard in FLA 3:30PM (6/19/2009)
Those who have older lawn mowers need to use the ethanol free fuel also. There's a couple of stations in St. Petersburg, FL also.
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Rick 4:03PM (6/19/2009)
I didn't even know that was a concern. Is the 10% ethanol OK for new-ish lawnmowers?
iwa 7:04PM (6/19/2009)
Yes, the up to 10% ethanol is ok for new-ish lawnmowers. I've never had a problem with it here in Orlando.
Ray 12:22PM (7/08/2009)
Where in St. Pete have you found ethanol free gas?
Thanks, Ray
Bri 10:48AM (6/20/2009)
Leave it to people to go nuts about ethanol and not realize that they are doing more damage than good. In order to reduce emissions MTBE was used as a gasoline additive. Turns out it also does a pretty good job of contaminating local water supplies. So the solution of course is to add 5-10% ethanol as your additive of choice instead. Therefore, by buying ethanol free gasoline you are either using MTBE and contaminating the ground water, or using no additives and thereby increasing smog. Florida is usually a little lax on air regulation, so I don't know if they have phased out MTBE entirely.
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Snowdog 11:19AM (6/20/2009)
Modern emission systems clean up exhaust without the need for oxygenates like MTBE.
Brett MacPherson 11:58AM (6/22/2009)
I didn't realize E85 was so popular down south. I live in eastern Canada in a city of 100k+ population, and there isn't a single station that offers it.
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Roux 2:08PM (6/22/2009)
Ethanol is a scam and has been for a long time.
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Dan 3:32PM (6/22/2009)
I'm able to get ethanol free gasoline locally in Albany, Oregon. They call it "clean 90" (90 for the octane rating). It is available here because boaters demanded the loophole from the State regulators. I use it in my lawn mowers and weed trimmer, as I've heard that the ethanol will attack rubber seals.
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Orng Crush 3:37PM (6/26/2009)
Ethanol has higher octane than gasoline.
kcom 4:26PM (6/22/2009)
I don't know if what they said is true but I was listening to a Saturday morning radio show about cars and engines in general and they got onto the topic of ethanol in gasoline. What they said is that it's bad to have it sitting around for a long time in a gas can because the ethanol attracts water since it's water soluble. So in a situation where you're using it for a lawnmower, say, and the can of gas sits in the garage for a long time between mowings, it can collect enough water to screw up the engine in the lawnmower and make it not start or run properly.
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Kyle 4:29PM (6/22/2009)
I'm fortunate that I have a couple of different stations local that still sell non-ethanol gasoline. It's pretty easy to figure out your break even cost. My vehicle gets approximately 12% worse fuel economy when running E10. That would roughly mean that E-10 at $2.50 is the same price as non-ethanol gasoline at $2.85. I'm going to say that real gasoline at $2.75 vs E-85 at 2.37 (as in the above picture) is a bargain based on fuel economy.
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Stewart 4:48PM (6/22/2009)
#9, E85 is not popular down south; only government requirements have put it into gas most of us are more or less forced to buy, not having options to do otherwise.
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Robert Speirs 5:57PM (6/22/2009)
If MTBE is/was so bad, why did they use it in place of lead? When was the last time anyone died of lead poisoning from gasoline? Has it ever happened. Oh, you say, it lowers the IQ of kids. But wait a minute, you PC greenie liberal moron, I thought IQ was a right-wing delusion? So then if it's not IQ, what's wrong with lead? Goddam subversive tyrannical government. And incompetent, too. But that goes without saying.
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gdainis 9:00AM (6/23/2009)
Lead was used as an inexpensive octane booster. As it would poison catalytic converters, it was removed from the fuel stream in the 70s.
MTBE was used as an oxygenate. The need for it was removed by the introduction of oxygen sensors in the exhaust. However, whether it was technically required or not, the laws requiring an oxygen boot remained. MTBE was replaced by EtOH as a political / look-like-you're-doing-something-green ploy
Dandapani 9:38PM (6/22/2009)
Ethanol gas 1) costs more, and 2) lowers gas mileage, thus I have to pay more to buy it and buy more for the same amount of travel. I'm not sure we are even saving foreign oil since my mileage goes down. All we are doing is paying off the corn growers and ethanol processors. Its a SCAM!
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