Increased percentage of ethanol in gasoline/ethanol blends could cause big problems

US ETHANOL NEWS
A move to increase the percentage of ethanol in gasoline/ethanol blends across the nation could cause big problems for boaters who use gasoline-powered engines.

Earlier this year, ethanol industry groups requested the federal Environmental Protection Agency raise the standard for the percentage of ethanol in conventional (non flex-fuel) motor fuel from the current 10 percent maximum to a 15 percent maximum.

Current outboard motors can run on a gasoline/ethanol mixture that includes no more than 10 percent ethanol — the so-called E10 fuel, now almost universally sold at gas stations - but can suffer mechanical damage if higher percentages of ethanol are used. Outboard manufacturers warn boaters not to use any fuel containing more than 10percent ethanol.

Also, ethanol (ethyl alcohol) in fuel has been blamed for a rash of problems for boaters. Ethanol attracts moisture — water — from the air, and because boat fuel tanks are vented considerable amounts of water can collect in boat fuel tanks. The water/gasoline/ethanol mixture can severely damage outboards.

Outboard manufacturers say they can build engines that would operate on E15 fuel. But with millions of older outboards, all built for fuel containing 10 percent or less ethanol in their fuel, still in service, a change to an E15 fuel standard would condemn those motors to a litany of mechanical troubles.

The EPA is expected to rule on the petition to increase the ethanol blend percentage before the end of this year.

Capitol to choose Rollover’s future

The Texas Legislature this past week passed and sent to the governor a bill that would begin the process of deciding the future of Rollover Pass on Bolivar Peninsula.

Senate Bill 2043 by Sen. Tommy Williams, R-Woodlands, allows the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office to close or modify the 55-year-old man-made channel connecting East Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico if the commissioner determines the pass “causes or contributes” to significant erosion of the adjacent beach.

Rollover Pass, hugely popular with bank-bound anglers, has been blamed for erosion and is responsible for significant deposits of tide-carried sand clogging a reach of the Intracoastal Waterway on the bay side of the pass. Dredging the Intracoastal of that sand annually costs taxpayers about $1 million.

The bill was modified to include provisions to mitigate the loss of the recreational opportunities that would come with closing the pass. Possible mitigation could include fishing piers, boat ramps and other recreational facilities.

Before any work to close the pass can begin, environmental and engineering studies must be conducted and support the closure. Then, the GLO must obtain necessary federal and state permits issued.

Also, initiation of those studies and any other moves toward closing Rollover Pass cannot begin unless the Legislature appropriates funding to the GLO for those purposes.

Because of these lengthy procedures, it will take at least a year or more before a final decision on Rollover’s fate is made and any work to close it begins.

source: chron