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Ethanol is highly corrosive, damages engines and fuel lines, is hydroscopic which exacerbates above and more problems, has even short term storage problems let

Ethanol is highly corrosive, damages engines and fuel lines, is hydroscopic which exacerbates above and more problems, has even short term storage problems let alone long term, thats why its only ever used blended and is very toxic, in fact it is a nightmare fuel really.. bio diesel on the other hand has none of these problems. https://www.government-fleet.com/157454/storing-dispensing-using-ethanol-gasoline-blends https://www.government-fleet.com/157454/storing-dispensing-u... https://www.cfact.org/2014/07/21/killing-marine-life-with-ethanol/ https://www.cfact.org/2014/07/21/killing-marine-life-with-et...

kragen 7y ago
Almost everything you said is precisely opposite from the truth. Ethanol is less corrosive to metals than even pure water, although (like gasoline) there are some plastics that it can dissolve; some of these plastics were used decades ago in some cars, including in their fuel systems, when blending ethanol with gasoline was uncommon. Its hygroscopic (not "hydroscopic") nature is a reason that people have been adding it to their gas tanks for many decades, to safely get the water out ("HEET" is a common brand name in the US), although it's true that each teaspoon of ethanol can only dissolve a small amount of water before becoming immiscible with gasoline. It's very chemically stable, unlike gasoline, which can polymerize into "varnish," and it's easier and safer to store than gasoline, although it does need to be stored without access to too much air so it doesn't absorb water. It's so nontoxic that people drink it recreationally, which is a major industry in most countries, although this doesn't seem appealing to me. And, unlike gasoline, diesel fuel, or biodiesel, you can put out ethanol files with water. These are some of the reasons it's been used as a fuel alone, as well as blended, for centuries, and many cars in countries like Brazil are able to run on pure ethanol, despite its lower energy density.

kragen 7y ago

Almost everything you said is precisely opposite from the truth. Ethanol is less corrosive to metals than even pure water, although (like gasoline) there are some plastics that it can dissolve; some of these plastics were used decades ago in some cars, including in their fuel systems, when blending ethanol with gasoline was uncommon. Its hygroscopic (not "hydroscopic") nature is a reason that people have been adding it to their gas tanks for many decades, to safely get the water out ("HEET" is a common brand name in the US), although it's true that each teaspoon of ethanol can only dissolve a small amount of water before becoming immiscible with gasoline. It's very chemically stable, unlike gasoline, which can polymerize into "varnish," and it's easier and safer to store than gasoline, although it does need to be stored without access to too much air so it doesn't absorb water. It's so nontoxic that people drink it recreationally, which is a major industry in most countries, although this doesn't seem appealing to me. And, unlike gasoline, diesel fuel, or biodiesel, you can put out ethanol files with water. These are some of the reasons it's been used as a fuel alone, as well as blended, for centuries, and many cars in countries like Brazil are able to run on pure ethanol, despite its lower energy density.