Quote:
Originally Posted by zakthor
Really? You believe ethanol is added to gas as a benefit to gasoline consumers?
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Yes.
Why is ethanol in our gas?
Fuel ethanol is used to enhance the octane rating of gasoline. To put that simply, higher octane gas resists detonation, so it burns rather than exploding. But raising the octane level of gasoline is expensive; that’s why premium fuel costs more than regular. Adding ethanol reduces the tendency of low-grade gasoline to detonate, enabling our national fleet to run on crappier gas.
https://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/the-truth-about-ethanol-in-your-gas/#:~:text=Why%20is%20ethanol%20in%20our,fuel%20cost s%20more%20than%20regular.
Ethanol has an octane rating of over 100:
https://www.eesi.org/papers/view/fact-sheet-a-brief-history-of-octane#:~:text=In%20addition%20to%20having%20lower ,lower%20octane%20rating%20than%20required.
Honestly, I understand that human nature seems to love to blame and reject and assume conspiracies and nefarious intent. But geez. Almost anytime I have taken the time to really drill down into what happened and why, the facts and decisions eventually start to make sense. Detonation is avoided, while allowing high compression and advanced timing, by increasing octane. Ethanol is a cheaper way of doing that compared to using more-refined gas. Shorter hydrocarbons are higher octane.