Submitted by Acme Service Group
Do you own a weed eater, lawn mower, or chainsaw? How about a classic or high performance car or motorcycle? What about a boat? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you should definitely be using non-ethanol gasoline!
Nearly all of the gasoline sold in the United States contains up to 10% ethanol, as mandated by the Federal Government. While newer vehicles built after the late 90’s or early 2000’s are designed to handle many of the negative aspects of ethanol, it is very damaging to all other engines.
Ethanol damages carbureted engines and older type rubber hoses and gaskets. It can be very corrosive to steel as well; leaving behind salts and deposits and a jelly-like goo which clogs filters. By damaging hoses, it can cause dangerous fuel leaks. In addition to this, ethanol attracts and mixes well with moisture. This not only damages expensive engines and equipment, but will cause lower performance, backfiring, and other harmful effects. On top of the damaging properties that ethanol possess, there is also less energy content in ethanol vs. straight gas; this means you get decreased fuel economy no matter what type of car, new or old, you drive. While every vehicle is different, most people realize a 1 to 4 mpg improvement in fuel economy using gas without ethanol.
Ethanol is derived from corn, so proponents tout it as renewable, which is true. What they don’t tell you, is that when the “life cycle” of ethanol is calculated, MORE energy is consumed than the benefit created from using a “renewable” fuel; so more gasoline is burned due to the decreased energy content, than if the gasoline contained no ethanol. Additionally, by using corn for fuel, it removes those crops from the food chain, thus driving up the price of corn; this increase trickles down everywhere as corn is a food staple worldwide and used as a feedstock for farm animals.
Locally, there are two locations where non-ethanol fuel can be purchased. Acme/Fast Fuel carries non-ethanol Premium (92 Octane) at their Lilly Rd location at 505 Lilly Rd SE (next to the new Olympia Fire Station). They carry non-ethanol Midgrade (89 Octane) and non-ethanol Premium at their downtown location at 303 Thurston Ave NE (near the LOTT Plant and The Hands On Children’s Museum). If you are travelling, you can check pure-gas.org for a list of sites by state.
