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re: "Green" fuel killing the Gulf
Posted on 10/22/14 at 12:37 pm to ChineseBandit58
Posted on 10/22/14 at 12:37 pm to ChineseBandit58
quote:
Wait - why is it used? is there some advantage to it?
LINK
quote:
One of the first gasoline additives used for this purpose was tetraethyl lead, which turned out to be an environmental disaster. Everywhere it went, the original octane enhancer left a nasty cloud of lead—which, as you might have heard, is really, really bad for our health and the environment. In the 1970s, the Environmental Protection Agency began forcing refiners and importers to reduce the amount of lead in their gasoline; by 1996, the EPA had banned lead from automobile gasoline entirely. Over those two decades, the regulations reduced lead levels in America
quote:
But while MTBE was great for urban air, it was bad for the water supply. When gasoline leaked from tanks, the MBTE mixed easily with water and soil and biodegraded much slower than gasoline's other ingredients. The EPA found that MTBE had contaminated five to 10 percent of drinking water samples where the chemical was being used heavily.
The article goes on to explain that ethanol has its own laundry list of issues. However, the simple truth is that lead was added to gas to prevent engine knock. Lead was determined to be harmful, and was replaced by MTBE. It was also found to be harmful, and was replaced by ethanol.
While I recognize the issues that ethanol use presents, I get tired of the typical rhetoric on the mater that doesn't look at how we got to that point. The market capitalized on ethanol use, and it only further exacerbated the problem. Nevertheless it wasn't simply used because of econazis.
3
Posted on 10/22/14 at 12:39 pm to Bmath
Gas leaks are a lot less common these days. Tons of stations have revamped their storage due to liabilities like this
Posted on 10/22/14 at 12:44 pm to Bmath
quote:
The article goes on to explain that ethanol has its own laundry list of issues. However, the simple truth is that lead was added to gas to prevent engine knock. Lead was determined to be harmful, and was replaced by MTBE. It was also found to be harmful, and was replaced by ethanol.
This may be the historical progression of gasoline additives, but I'm pretty sure that ethanol actually has nothing to do with preventing engine knock. I thought auto makers simply found ways to design engines that didn't require such an additive.
As I understand it, it was only through lobbying efforts of "big corn" that they were able to slip in ethanol as an additive in the place of lead, but that there is no useful purpose at all for car engines for the actual addition of ethanol. It really has nothing at all to do with "market" forces in the traditional sense of that word.
Correct me if I'm wrong, as I don't proclaim to be an expert on this subject, just an interested observer/consumer.
Posted on 10/22/14 at 1:17 pm to Bmath
quote:
However, the simple truth is that lead was added to gas to prevent engine knock. Lead was determined to be harmful, and was replaced by MTBE. It was also found to be harmful, and was replaced by ethanol.
This is absolutely the first time I have ever heard that ethanol is an 'additive to prevent knocking' - that is imho bullshite. Ethanol is supposed to 'burn cleaner' in terms of emissions, but knocking was a result of valve clearances or some such. Lead additives eliminated that problem.
When unleaded gas first came out, I started using it (doing my part for the environment doncha know) and burned out the valves on my truck. It didn't knock - just burned the valves. Went back to using leaded gasoline as long as it was available.
Then the auto manufacturers made engines that could use unleaded gas without burning out the valves.
Ethanol came along as a strictly environmental additive. - Unless there was some technical discussion that I completely missed out on.
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