even in Australia

[ManWorkinghere]

The biggest surprises in motoring in 2015


5) E10 fuel forced on us despite little to no benefit

Ethanol-blended fuel (known as E10, because 10 per cent is Ethanol and 90 per cent is regular unleaded) is once again about to be forced on New South Wales(NSW) motorists — even though you have to burn more of it to travel the same distance as you would on regular fuel. Because E10 burns faster, independent testing has found the environmental benefit is negligible and motorists have the added inconvenience of having to refill more often — or use more expensive fuel. Other states such as Queensland and Victoria have largely shunned E10 because of the questionable benefit. Consumer groups fear motorists are lulled into using the fuel under false pretences. It’s cheaper at the pump, but you have to buy more of it to travel the same distance as regular fuel. So why has it been forced on NSW motorists and fuel retailers? Displaying E10 pricing also restricts price pressure on 98 premium unleaded, the dearest fuel. E10 takes up space on pricing boards that would otherwise be used to display the price of 98 premium unleaded. Thanks for nothing.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

[stevewfl]

It does serve a purpose in the USA.  If you let a carbonated sit with it for any period of time, it requires much labor to ungum things.

So, it means more money to mechanics, which means more taxes get paid to the government, and we know thats all good 

[VirginiaJim]

Yep, we've been running up to 10% E for years now.  Not much worries in FI vehicles but those with carbs may suffer if they sit too long.  Small engines like lawn mowers and such have issues for sure.  I had to rebuild my pressure washer carb as I forgot to drain the fuel out of it one year.  They are trying to force E15 on us now but there is some resistance to that.  None of my vehicles can run with it.

[Conniesaki]

Jim - Curious what makes you say there's no problem with letting ethanol sit in fuel injectors?

[gPink]

I wonder where Aus is buying their alky?

[Cholla]

The article is wrong stating E10 burns faster. It burns SLOWER, hence the higher octane rating.

It has fewer BTUs, hence the lower energy and higher consumption.

[VirginiaJim]

Jim - Curious what makes you say there's no problem with letting ethanol sit in fuel injectors?

I've never had an issue with it in my vehicles.  I've got a 91 dakota that can sit for up to a month with TBI x 2, never had an issue.  Never had any issues with the C14 either.  I guess if it sits long enough it might cause issues with tank and such.  I haven't had a carb vehicle since my 84 Jeep Cherokee (POS).  I take that back, I had a Voyager XII that had terrible issues with gummy carbs and tank.  Well, I guess the C10 counts but I ran that enough to not get it gummed up.  I think that FI vehicles are much more forgiving, less susceptible to issues with the crap gas we have nowadays.

[bob h]

I know, this is technical nit picking, but burn rate and octane number are two different things.  Anyway, it's winter and my bike is holed up waiting for the snow to melt!

Octane number is a measure of the resistance to detonation (knock).  Detonation happens after the fuel has started to burn, but all of a sudden all the remaining fuel ignites at once, not from the flame propagation.   

Burn rate is the speed of the flame front as it moves through the ignited mixture.

Here's a writeup that describes the two pretty well:
 

FLAME (burn) SPEED:(it's from this site: http://www.whitfieldoil.com/www/docs/171.284/vp-racing-fuel-
The speed at which the air fuel mixture in a combustion chamber is consumed becomes critical in a racing engine. At 6000 RPM, each spark plug fires 50 times per second. That's a lot of combustion processes happening in a very short time in the same combustion chamber. This is why racing gasoline need to be capable of burning fast. In your daily driver that may not see the top side of 3000 RPM, flame speed is not as critical. In a racing engine, everything is happening much faster, and in a bigger way because the throttle is wide open. The gasoline must burn as completely as possible to make the most possible horsepower. If the gasoline does not get burned in the time allowed, there will be unburned hydrocarbons coming out the exhaust pipe. Besides not making any horsepower for you, the unburned product contributed to air pollution. Flame speed is determined by the hydrocarbon components in the gasoline. It is critical to making max power, but not related to octane quality.

OCTANE NUMBER:
The octane number of a gasoline has little to do with how fast it burns or how much power the engine will make. Octane number is the resistance to detonation. If the octane number is high enough to prevent detonation, there is no need to use a higher octane gasoline since the engine will not make any additional power. Octane number is not related to flame (burn) speed either. Variations in octane quality are independent of flame speed. There are some high octane gasolines in the marketplace with fast flame speeds and some with slow flame speeds. It depends on how they are put together. We prefer fast flame speeds because we know that a properly tuned engine will make more power on this type of gasoline than one that has a slower flame speed.

[maxtog]

E10 fuel forced on us despite little to no benefit

Welcome to the nonsense that we have put up with here in the USA for many years now.  And there isn't "little to no benefit", as far as most of us are concerned, there is "zero benefits with considerable negatives".  Not only does it ruin carburetors (it destroyed my last bike and one lawnmower), it actually uses MORE oil (due to fertilizer (here it is made from corn)), raises the price of food (again, ours is made from corn), doesn't help with overall emissions, RAISES the price of fuel, has lower energy density, and since it attracts water it can ruin gas tanks and fuel systems even in fuel injected vehicles which raises the price of vehicle operation.

It is essentially one of the stupidest things ever.  But hey, its "green"!!!!!!