E20 Has No Measurable Impact on Vehicle Durability, Curbs Emissions, Study Finds
By Scott Doggett March 31, 2010
By Danny King, Contributor
Filing a car up with fuel that has 20 percent ethanol - better known as E20 - cuts emissions and doesn't harm an engine more than conventional gasoline, according to a study released this week that's likely to spur further debate over the whether regulators should boost the allowable limit of ethanol in gasoline.
E20 cuts carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions by 23 percent and 13 percent compared to conventional gasoline, the Rochester Institute of Technology reported, citing a study of 10 vehicles with older engines not designed to process ethanol blends.
Additionally, E20 showed "no measurable impact to vehicle drivability or maintenance" on the engines, which logged more than 100,000 miles collectively, the institute said.
Most cars on American roads today can run on blends of up to 10% ethanol, and the use of E10 is mandated in some U.S. states and cities. The Energy Department's Oak Ridge National Laboratory tested a representative group of cars on fuel blends containing up to 20% ethanol and found that it is 7% less fuel efficient than E10. Meaning, you can expect 7% poorer gas mileage using E20 than E10.
The Rochester Institute report appears to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's consideration of boosting the allowable limit of ethanol in gasoline, which has fueled debate among scientists, activists and auto industry executives.
In addition to concerns from carmakers who say ethanol may speed the deterioration of fuel lines and other engine components, some environmentalists, academic researchers, economists and auto industry analysts have been critical of the push for broader ethanol use because they say the perceived demand for ethanol contributed to a spike in corn prices that has exacerbated worldwide shortages of many grain-based foods.
Naturally, ethanol advocates cheered the Rochester Institute report.
"This new study confirms what we've been saying all along," said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis in a statement. "Increasing the use of ethanol in our fuel can help clean our environment, strengthen our national security and create jobs, all without any impact on the drivability of our cars."
Naysayers point to the fact that the price of corn - the major ethanol feedstock in the U.S. - quadrupled between mid-2005 and mid-2008, though it has dropped since then.
Rice University in January released a report - funded by Chevron Corp. - saying that the cost of ethanol that displaced regular gasoline in 2008, in the form of $4 billion in U.S. government subsidies, was about $2 a gallon more than the retail price of gas and that annual U.S. government mandates for production of biofuels from non-food crops aren't achievable.
Additionally, last December Stanford University - criticized by the ethanol industry - released a report that said ethanol is more likely than gasoline to generate ozone and ozone-related health problems.
"Our data shows that vehicle performance remained constant, while carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions were decreased even over E10 blends," said Rochester Institute of Technology senior staff engineer Brian Hilton in a statement this week.
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Click here to comment on this entry.What does it do to your mileage though? I've found 10% ethanol cuts my mileage by at least 10%. I've heard E85 can cut it by 40%.
Doesn't that minimise the benefits?
Firstwagon, good point. DOE's Oak Ridge National Laboratory tested a representative group of cars on fuel blends containing up to 20% ethanol and confirmed a fuel economy loss proportional to the energy dilution effect. An average car driving 10,000 miles per year would require an extra 7 gallons of fuel, compared to one using E10. I'll insert this into Danny's copy momentarily. Thanks, Firstwagon, for the good eye.
Why would anyone support a fuel that gives them worse fuel economy?
And the bigger question, how can you possibly measure E20's effect on longevity and maintenance after driving a vehicle for a mere 10,000 miles? How can they know that after 20,000 miles (or even 100,000 miles) the E20 won't have some dramatic adverse effect?
Ethanol cuts the specific energy of the fuel, so economy drops out, and people end up spending more money on fuel. I really *doubt* that the fuel companies will discount the E20 proportionately... it's an unseen "tax" on going green.
Better to control emissions with hardware/software tuning, and try to achieve higher mileage with diesel or even go hybrid/plug-in to save money.
Money is the ultimate arbiter of efficiency to the consumer. If they end up spending more money per mile, it's less efficient, period.
greenpony: "Why would anyone support a fuel that gives them worse fuel economy?"
Because it's renewable.
docrings: "Ethanol cuts the specific energy of the fuel, so economy drops out, and people end up spending more money on fuel"
Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. A coworker is always checking the price of E85. When it hits a break even (compared to reduced mpg), he buys it over gasoline. He runs E85 about a third of the time.
Also, if cars are actually designed for E85, instead of merely being E85 capable, their mpg is quite reasonable.
"Because it's renewable"
But what benefit does that have for Joe Consumer? Does running E20 give Joe peace of mind that his great-grandchildren might not run out of dino juice? Does the evaluation of E20 over just 10,000 miles give Joe the confidence that it won't cost him more in maintenance and repairs? Is Joe content paying an extra couple hundred a year, plus whatever increases in food prices, to be forced to use a fuel that has no obvious benefit to him?
Renewable? Probably not. More efficient? No. Worth the effort? Probably not.
The point I'm trying to make is that lawmakers shouldn't continue to make uninformed policy decisions based on severely limited studies. Whether or not you believe in "global warming", we at least deserve something more formal and less like a kangaroo court.
We need an E85 infrastructure to enable engine downsizing. Smaller, high compression or boosted engines can benefit greatly by making more power using E85 due to the higher octane, if designed for E85. Unfortunately, no OEMs make an E85 capable vehicle that truly needs the high octane, but those engines are coming soon. E85 (~105 octane R+M/2) where I live is $2.19 a gallon and 100 octane unleaded race gas is $5.95.
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