New PR War Breaks Out Over Higher Ethanol Ratios

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's approval of gasoline containing 15% ethanol has touched off a new round of wildly differing opinions among stakeholders in the debate.

The brouhaha has been triggered in large part by federal law, which requires petroleum refiners to mix 13.2 billion gallons of ethanol into their gasoline this year and 15 billion gallons annually by 2015. A combination of fewer miles driven and more efficient vehicles has made it difficult to meet those goals at the previous 10% blend ratio.

E10 fuel (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline) is widely available in the U.S. now. The EPA ruled at the end of last year that E15 is safe for vehicles produced after the 2000 model year.

Proponents of E15, led by the ethanol industry, say four years and 6 million miles of tests by the Dept. of Energy found no evidence of engine damage. They say wider use of E15 will lower fuel prices, cut consumption of foreign petroleum and eliminate petroleum's "monopoly" of the American fuel market.

But carmakers and oil refiners opposed to E15 released an analysis earlier this week that found engine damage in vehicles approved by the EPA to use the higher blend. The oil industry group complains that permitting E15 makes consumers part of a "giant science experiment to line the coffers of large agribusinesses."

The analysis funded by the American Petroleum Institute and conducted by the Coordinating Research Council involved eight engine types that represent a broad range of popular vehicles. Each type was tested on an engine dynamometer for 500 hours with E20 fuel. Any type that failed with E20 was retested using another engine and E15 fuel. If any of those engine types failed, the type was evaluated a third time, again with another engine, with pure gasoline (E0).

CRC says two of the eight engine types suffered mechanical damage after burning E20 or E15. The evaluation involved a total of 28 engines, 12 of which failed compression and leakdown tests, including one unit that was using E0, according to CRC.

The New York Times, which first reported the latest controversy, notes that several carmakers are equipping their vehicles with fuel caps that warn owners not to use E15. Engine experts say ethanol can cause fuel system corrosion and valve seat erosion in older vehicles that were not designed to tolerate alcohol.

The full CRC report is available HERE.