Stop! In The Name of E15

By Kate Harland, February 14th, 2012 @ 5:01 pm

Hello readers, back again as a guest author is Mike Macik of ARI’s Strategic Consulting group.  Please enjoy!

The US House of Representatives approved the HR 3199 Bill which will stop the production of 15% Ethanol for today’s gasoline engines until further testing has been done. The intention of the Bill is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the scientific and technical research on the implications of the use of mid-level ethanol blends, and for other purposes.

So what is E15 and why all of the talk about it? E15 is a blend of 15% ethanol in Gasoline and is intended for model year 2007 vehicles and newer and not to be used in motorcycles, heavy duty gasoline engines; such as school and transit buses, off road vehicles, boats, snowmobiles, lawn equipment, chain saws and any gasoline vehicle model year 2006 and older. Currently the gasoline found at today’s refueling stations contains 10% ethanol and is safe for all gasoline engines.

Some automotive manufacturers urged against E15 as some fuel system design cannot handle the increase in Ethanol, potentially causing premature fuel component failure or catastrophic engine failures. The halt on E15 means that you may continue to operate your fleet in the same manner and continue to do so until further comprehensive testing has been done.

What is your position on this development? If E15 does come to fruition, how will that affect your fleet? We want to hear from you!

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