Re: Ethanol in '95 540ia (long)

["Chao, Harvey" <harvey.chao@xxxxxxxx>]

Actually, those of you who have to have gasoline "modified" with additives
to make it burn cleaner and where the additive is ethanol --  should be glad
it isn't what has been mandated here in Calif.

First of all, the general approach appears to be to replace 10% of the
gasoline by volume with something else, such as ethanol or what is used here
in California, MBTE.  If you look at the concept here, they are replacing
10% of the volume of gasoline with an "oxygenator" substance - i.e.
something that adds oxygen to the gasoline in an attempt to improve complete
combustion and thus reduce emissions.  This probably works in older cars
still using ignition points and carburetors.  However in an newer car  (e.g.
most BMWs since the early '80s) that has electronic ignition and computer
controlled oxygen sensor feedback fuel injection, this is of a VERY doubtful
help.  In fact, by replacing 10% of the volume of gasoline with something
that has less chemical energy ( in exchange for more oxygen content), the
car actually burns more fuel to make up for the additive that displaced
gasoline.  The high energy ignition and feedback controlled fuel injection
systems keep the emissions low regardless of the fuel additive.  So the
immediate effect is that the bulk of the cars that will burn clean
regardless of the presence of oxygenators in the fuel,  now burn more fuel
to make up for the replacement of gasoline by oxygenators and burn no more
cleanly than before! Of course, the gasoline companies like this because
they sell a higher  volume of fuel as well as are able to say that this
version of gas costs more to make and it has a California only limited
market so we have to raise the price accordingly.  

The big down side of the MBTE that is used in California is that it is
getting into the drinking water supplies through leakage from underground
storage tanks, spills, and from gasoline powered boats in lakes and
reservoirs.  MBTE is under investigation as a carcinogen, is very soluble in
water, and is quite detectable by taste in drinking water in very low
concentrations (maybe a good thing too!).  Naturally, it is difficult and
expensive as heck to remove from the water once it is present. 

The problem here is that the California State Air Resources Board (CARB,
cleaner air cops run amuck) have managed to MANDATE the use of MBTE.  It
gets political in that ARCO is a major refiner in California,
coincidentally, a major provider of MBTE, and that the "feed stock" used to
make this stuff used to be a refinery "waste product".  So now we have a
mandated market for a product that is made from "waste".  Can we say big
profits!  Since the various refinery companies in California made big
investments to produce MBTE for a captive market, and make big profit from
selling former waste material, there is significant political resistance to
change.  Of course, we all know that no gasoline company would try to
influence the Sacramento lawmakers or CARB in the simple pursuit of
corporate profit over cleaner air and or water.  To compound the problem,
the law on "cleaner burning gasoline" specifies what the formula shall be,
not that the gas shall be of a formulation that burns X% cleaner (which
would then allow alternative methods of achieving the desired end result -
but that would make too much sense and maybe not enough cents!)

Isn't a Democratic political system combined with a capitalistic free market
wonderful when it isn't under control of the citizens therein but rather big
business and political bureaucracies?

(Rant mode off, with apologies)
Harvey

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