Filed under: Ethanol, Legislation and Policy, On Two Wheels, USA



The fight over converting the national supply of gasoline from a maximum 10-percent ethanol blend (known as E10) to E15 have quieted down somewhat when it comes to passenger cars. For other applications - like "motorcycles and nonroad products" - the struggle continues.

Enter, once again, the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA), which is highlighting documents submitted by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Those documents make it clear that the agency is aware of the potential damage E15 can do to some internal combustion engines. The EPA told the FTC that ethanol increases the amount of oxygen in the fuel, "which can lead to increased exhaust gas temperatures and potentially increase incremental deterioration of emission control hardware and performance over time, possibly causing catalyst failure."

The AMA rallied riders to Washington, DC last year to protest E15. Ethanol advocate group Fuels America said that event was absurd because the fuel was not intended for motorcycles anyway. The AMA says that it "is concerned about the continued availability of E10 blends and E0 fuels - gasoline with zero ethanol content - if E15 is allowed to permeate the marketplace." The EPA approved E15 for sale in the US back in June, 2012 and pretty much immediately had to make adjustments to the rule to take concerns from owners of small-engine products into account. A "Look Before You Pump" campaign is in effect to prevent these owners from putting high-ethanol blends into their engines.Continue reading AMA points to EPA document to prove ethanol damages small engines

AMA points to EPA document to prove ethanol damages small engines originally appeared on AutoblogGreen on Mon, 21 Apr 2014 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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