Ethanol Promotion Agency

Following the overwhelming success of the federal government’s previous ethanol programs, the EPA is pushing through another new part-ethanol fuel.

On June 19, the EPA approved for sale E15, so named because it contains 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline (up from the current maximum of 10 percent ethanol). The mixture has been in development for at least five years. Last year, NASCAR (which has a very public partnership with American Ethanol, an industry group) started requiring E15 fuel in its race cars, and in September it celebrated reaching 1 million competition miles of driving using the blend. Drivers estimate that the switch has increased their horsepower by 6 to 8 percent.
The EPA has been preparing for introduction of the fuel since 2008, when the agency established its first set of guidelines for testing E15’s market-readiness. But the Auto Alliance and Global Automakers, two trade groups representing the car industry, have accused the EPA of skirting its own instructions by approving E15 before the full testing regimen is completed.
They cite a study by the Coordinating Research Council (CRC), an auto-industry/fuel-industry coalition, which found, contrary to a similar, earlier EPA study, that “many vehicles on the road today are at risk of harm from E15.” The study tested 16 engines designed after 2000 (the only models that are currently approved to run on E15) for effects after 100,000 miles of use with fuel having the increased ethanol content. Ethanol is a high-octane fuel that burns hotter than gasoline. Even recently designed cars are not necessarily configured to handle such a high-octane fuel, which increases the threat of mechanical damage and, ironically, tailpipe emissions beyond the allowable limit. Such malfunctions could be costly to drivers: “The most likely repair would be cylinder head replacement, which costs from $2000–4000 for single cylinder head engines and twice as much for V-type engines.”

Read more: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/304761/ethanol-promotion-agency-nash-keune