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NEWS
US EPA: ethanol causes damage
The American Environmental Protection Agency has acknowledged that overheating and component failures can be caused by ethanol in fuelA media release from the American Motorcyclist Association says that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has publicly acknowledged that ethanol in gasoline can damage internal combustion engines by increasing exhaust temperatures and indirectly causing component failures.
The EPA statements are found in a rule proposal issued by the Federal Trade Commission regarding a new label for pumps that supply fuel blends high in ethanol.
According to the EPA: "Ethanol impacts motor vehicles in two primary ways. First ... ethanol enleans the [air/fuel] ratio (increases the proportion of oxygen relative to hydrocarbons) which can lead to increased exhaust gas temperatures and potentially increase incremental deterioration of emission control hardware and performance over time, possibly causing catalyst failure.
“Second, ethanol can cause materials compatibility issues, which may lead to other component failures.”
The EPA statements back the long-held position of the AMA, which has fought the distribution of E15 fuel blends in an effort to protect motorcycle and all-terrain vehicles from the damage that ethanol causes.
"Now the EPA acknowledges that ethanol itself is harmful to emissions hardware and other components on all motor vehicles,” said Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations. “It is time for the federal government to pause, take a hard look at this product and change its entire approach to ethanol in fuels.”
E15 is a formulation that contains up to 15 per cent ethanol by volume. The EPA has proposed rule to roll back the requirement for wider distribution and use of E15 under its Renewable Fuel Standard.
In Australia, the most common fuel blend that is sold in Australia is E10 – 10 per cent ethanol blended with 90 per cent petrol. E85 blended fuel is also slowly being adopted.
On the FCAI website, there’s a list of ethanol suitability for 10 separate motorcycle manufacturers – basically the ones that are members of the organisation. To view that list, click HERE.
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Written byBikesales Staff
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