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More on the great Ethanol corn job.


     Here are some more details to add to today’s column. And if you know of where people can buy non-ethanol gas, please post.

     So, you ask, who says how much ethanol is in the gas?  Here is how it works. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets a maximum amount that can go in fuel blends. That amount currently is 10 percent. Then it is up to states to determine whether they want to mandate that.

    In 2008, under Gov. Charlie Crist, the state of Florida mandated that all fuel blends contain 10 percent ethanol by the end of this year. If you’re interested, Marco Rubio was speaker of the House. There are exemptions for people who sell gas for boats, power equipment, planes and so on. But in reality, gas stations simply sell the blended gas because that’s mostly what the refineries are cranking out.

       The EPA now is considering whether to up the max to 15 percent. Then it would be up to Florida again whether to mandate this. My hope is it would not. The fear is that refineries are going to quit making the non-ethanol gas altogether at some point, which will put a lot of people in a bind.

       Boats simply can not run on anything higher than 10 percent. And even that is affecting them.

       The ethanol problem has started a rush for fuel stabilizers that will minimize the separation that occurs. As I explained in the column, ethanol attracts water moisture from the air. The ethanol and water then settle out to the bottom of gas tanks, where it is sucked into engines.

         Traditional stabilizers do not help. There now are new stabilizers on the market made for ethanol. The one that most mechanics have recommended to me is Star Tron. But Yamaha now has its own brand. The guys at Parker Boats recommend Marine MXO from Bell Performance. Sta-bil has a new marine formula out.

     So take your pick.

      Some suggestions for people with portable gas tanks in their boats is that after getting off the water, simply empty out what is left in the car. And start out with fresh fuel every boat trip.  The problem is the ethanol remaining in the engine. My mechanic says to crank up the engine every couple of weeks to get rid of the old stuff.  In my case - I have a carbed engine – he says I need to get it out and open it up to run the fuel through the high-speed jets.

       I simply am making life simply by buying non-ethanol gas. I’ve been told that this cost retailers about 10-15 cents more a gallon than the corn stuff. But they are marking it up close to a dollar a gallon.   It’s cheaper than another carb job.


Does the ethanol blend affect car’s gas mileage as well? It seems like mine dropped a bit after I started noticing the “may contain 10% ethanol” signs a few years back.


I have not doen enough research on the issues for Ethanol use in boats and small engines to comment with any weight on that issue at this point; but I would ask that you would do your research on the vast number of benefits to America by raising the limit of Ethanol in our fuel from E10 to E15. It is cleaner for the environment, runs cooler with higher Octane-thus more power, it is the great boost to the American economy no one could argue we desperately need, it provides a renewable fuel source that costs NO American lives to preserve and the list goes on. Ethanol is a Win-Win oppportunity for America and I am convinced that the problems you and other boaters are dealing with not only pale in comparison to the issues I have listed above, but are issues to which there are workable solutions we must only seek to find! Respectfully, Linda

Linda, I’m not going to write it all again, but:

Corn takes water to grow (electric pumps) fertilizer (natural gas) it must be harvested, boiled, then transported in trucks because there are no pipelines (lots of diesel). So it’s not ‘renewable’ as produced today and probably never will be.

And finally, yes ethanol contains about 2/3 the BTU energy content of gasoline. So unless you were to install very high compression Indy car engines into everyone’s car, you will always get worse gas mileage with ethanol. Christine, that is what you noticed with your car.

If you want more info, google ‘The oil drum ethanol’ or ‘Robert Rapier Ethanol’.

They know more about it than I do.

Ethanol is the biggest snow job in the history of the world. If you take everything Chris said and add in the reduced mileage (20% in my case), there is no savings.

Hogan’s in Frontenac (Brevard County) has a big sign up that they have ethanol free gas. I have not bought any, so do not know what they charge.

Mike I agree that it is causing problems with conventional engines. But what are we supposed to do to get energy independent? Invade Brazil?

Christ solar is too expensive. Nuclear plants can’t get sited. Ethanol leaves corn kernels in your fuel lines. Biomass burns – and human’s cant burn wood or crops! Natural gas drilling gives people flaming waterballs in their sinks. Coal mines collapse.

We know we dont have a lot of oil left in America. I’m waiting on one solution that doesnt cause whining and moaning.

Maybe we can bottle alan graysons hot air and farts to power a turbine at OUC.


Thanks for mentioning our company in your article! Bell Performance has been in the area for a long time and has worked directly with the marine industry on getting our Bell Performance MXO right for the marine engine.


Max Stewart
Bell Performance

Shawn, you are my new favorite poster.

So what’s in this stuff, Max, and how long will it keep the ethanol from separating, and how long can you leave your engine sit if this stuff is in the fuel?

By the way, Max, I bought a bottle of MXO a couple months ago.

Mike-a couple of things.
1) Most states don’t mandate ethanol use. EPA Clean Air Act requirements are what drives the blending of ethanol, and it is only in designated areas that are in Clean Air Act “non-attainment”. MTBE used to be the additive of choice, but MTBE is a carcinogen and EPA removed protection several years ago. Thus the switch to ethanol because ethanol blended gas burns cleaner. If ethanol is blended in attainment areas, it is called “discretionary blending” and is typically done so because ethanol is cheaper.
2) You can always get unblended gas in the Middle East or Venezuela, so all the unpatriotic traitors that would rather send your $ to our enemies instead of supporting rural AMERICA can just move there.
3) I have 12 gas powered engines (cars, jet skis, leaf blowers, etc) and never problem 1. People just need to take care of their stuff and they will realize that the “ethanol is evil” campaign is mainly one of misinformation.




The whole environmental protection issue is one of misinformation.

Mike, if we told you then it wouldn’t be “Bell MXO” it would be “Mike’s awesome fuel”. Three key components to any good fuel additive: 1. a combustion and horsepower improver. 2. a non-alcohol water disperser (i can’t stress that one enough) 3. a protectant for rubber seals and plastic engine parts, the ethanol can eat those alive.

Good blog and followup. Some subsequent comments deserve some comment themselves. Ethanol by itself does have a high octane rating. However…the flip side to this is that fuel blenders, if they’re putting 10-15% high octane ethanol into gasoline, will simply use lower-octane gasoline in order to make the end fuel blend the same octane as conventional gasoline, whether 87 or 89 or 91. The additional downside to this comes when the ethanol blend gets water in it and phase-separates, the octane-rich ethanol sinks to the bottom and essentially strips all that extra octane out of the gasoline phase, leaving you with poor quality gasoline in the top layer.

It’s also notable that ethanol is actualy blended into the gasoline at the station, with the truck driver dispensing what supposedly is the right amount. But they don’t always get it right; sometimes your actual concentration of ethanol can be quite a bit higher than 10% or 15%. And who has time to go around checking every station, every time?

Mike, maybe you need to study a little more about ethanol. The fact of problems occuring are from the CRUD in your tank that the ethanol is loosning up. They are deposits from GAS, Kinda funny how it seems like just Florida has issues. It’s been used in 100’s of our own tools and NEVER a problem. Then again it’s all how you take care and manage your stuff. Aren’t you guys there cleaning up oil sludge from a mishap offshore a few months ago??

15% will void the warranty of every outboard motor currently sold in the US.

I am all for corn gas IF I buy it voluntarily- not by idiot governmental mandate. Ethanol has destroyed 1000’s of outboard motors in the Southeatern US- not because we don’t know how to car for our motors, but the higher humidity and temperatures here place more water vapor in the air, which end up combining with ethanol to destroy outboard motors, jet ski, etc.

Put 50% ethanol in the gas if you like, just allow me the freedom to buy real gasoline and not destroy my $30,000 outboard engines. If the law requires the sale of real gas next to ethanol, we’ll see what the public wants.

The farm lobby and ADM can stuff it.

Brad, no we are not cleaning up any oil sludge from a mishap offshore a few months ago. It did not come anywhere near Orlando.

Boat Tree Marina at the Port of Sanford on the St. Johns River sells ethanol-free gas.

To Christine at randomhangers. did you know that per gallon, E10 has only 65% of the energy that is produced by non-e fuel? You may have higher octane that destroys rubber seals, etc but as for more power? do the math. even if you pay 2.85 a gallon with non-e fuel, calculate the mileage loss per gallon of e-10, you end up paying 3.10 a gallon for E-10 to get the same fuel economy as non-e10 fuels.

“Climate change is such a huge issue that it requires strong, concerted, consistent and enduring action by governments.”
Peter Garrett

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