blends
Seeking the
Blending Sweet Spot E15 is getting most of the attention, but is it the best way to expand ethanol’s market share? By Kris Bevill
For years, in coffee shops and grain elevators across the upper Midwest, independent thinkers have voiced their opinions on the benefits of midlevel ethanol blends. Tales of fueling the old Buick, or otherwise unapproved vehicle, with E20 or E30 without experiencing any of the dire consequences threatened by auto manufacturers are not hard to come by, although getting anyone to report the results of their own private fuel test on the record are not so easy. The nonconformists are often corn farmers eager to use as much ethanol as they can and curious to see what will happen if they bump up the blends. They blend it themselves by partly filling the tank with E85 and finishing it off with E10. Or, when available, they use a blender pump. These types of do-it-yourself experiments are certainly not recommended by the ethanol industry nor by the automakers, who say unapproved fuel use will violate warranty agreements. But the fact is, people do it anyway.
september 2011 | Ethanol Producer Magazine | 55