E85 Boondoggle of the Day: E20, E30

We’ve pointed it out before: the ethanol industry has a cunning plan to breach the “blend wall” (a.k.a. the fact that American customers don’t want E85). While they’re waiting, hoping and praying for a Titanoboa cerrejonensi-sized gas price spike, they’re planning on using their political leverage to “offer” (i.e., force) motorists E20 and E30 ethanol blends. The big problem: it’s not entirely clear that engines like to run on those blends. (E85-compatible vehicles are, uh, E85-compatible). In fact, it’s pretty clear they don’t. But that’s not going to stop the lobby from trying . . .

“The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has granted a testing exemption to Renergie Inc. Under the test program, the first of its kind in the U.S., Renergie will use variable blending pumps, not splash blending, to dispense hydrous ethanol blends of E10, E20, E30 and E85 to test vehicles. The testing could help determine blend optimization with respect to fuel economy, engine emissions and vehicle drivability. Vehicles will be involved in the test program which will last for a period of 15 months.”

And what, pray tell, is “splash blending?”

In the U.S., the primary method for blending ethanol into gasoline is splash blending. The ethanol is “splashed” into the gasoline either in a tanker truck or sometimes into a storage tank of a retail station. Renergie believes the inaccuracy and manipulation of splash blending may be eliminated by precisely blending the ethanol and unleaded gasoline at the point of consumption.

And if you eliminate the imprecision, then maybe, just maybe, E20 for everyone! By law! There’d be joy in cornville that day. And while lawn mower, snowmobile and jet ski owners contemplate that possibility, here’s a bit of scientific hype for those who still think food-into-fuel will save the planet. Or something.

Tests conducted in Europe have shown that the use of hydrous ethanol, which eliminates the need for the hydrous-to-anhydrous dehydration processing step, could mean energy savings of between ten percent and forty-five percent during processing, a four percent product volume increase, higher mileage per gallon, a cleaner engine interior and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.