Stihl Fuel Recommendations

Stihl is a maker of small hand held equipment such as chainsaws, string trimmers, blowers, etc. In the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Stihl website there is a question on the use of ethanol blended fuel.

Will a 10% (E10) blend of ethanol hurt my chain saw, trimmer, or blower?

All STIHL gasoline powered engines are OK for use with up to a 10% (E10) blend of ethanol in gasoline.

Source : Stihl FAQ

Yamaha Outboards Fuel Recommendations

Yamaha, makers of marine outboard engines, maintains a section on their website for frequently asked questions concerning the use of ethanol blended gasoline.

Are Yamaha engines compatible with E10 fuel?

All current models as well as most engines built since the late 1980’s have been designed with fuel system components that are tolerant to fresh fuel containing ethanol up to 10% (E10). Outboard fuel systems can still be affected by: water, dissolved gum, varnish, corrosion particles, and dissolved resins that E10 fuel has cleaned from the distribution system and your boat’s fuel tanks.

Source : Yamaha Outboard FAQs

Iowa E10 Sales Reach 75 Percent of Gasoline Market in 2008

The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA) announced that Iowans chose E10, a 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline blend, 75 percent of the time in 2008.

According to the Iowa Department of Revenue (IDR), in 2008 Iowans purchased:

Type               Gallons       Percentage
E0 Gasoline       397,245,643       25.0%
E10             1,193,833,838       75.0%

Previous E10 Usage in Iowa

2008 75.0%
2007 73.9%
2006 69.3%
2005 75.0%

* Note: These figures do not reflect E85 sales, which are reported separately and at a later date by the IDR.

Source : Iowa Renewable Fuels Association

Using E10 Unleaded In Snowmobiles

Lately there have been several news articles from the North East claiming that use of ethanol blended gasoline in snowmobiles was causing problems. It is hard to understand the difficulties they are having since other parts of the country have used ethanol blended fuel for some time. And examples of E10 being used successfully aren't hard to find.

For instance the Yellowstone National Park was looking for ways to reduce pollution within the park and after studying the situation concluded that the use of E10 in snowmobiles operated within the park would help cut emissions. The two-stroke engines common to snowmobiles typically emit several times more pollutants four-stroke motors. The use of E10 and low emission lubricating oil was found to reduce emission substantially.

Estimates based on the amount of fuel consumed in the 1997-1998 season suggest that use of low-pollution products by the rental machines (which are estimated to have traveled nearly 5 million miles) probably reduced emission of hydrocarbons (primarily unburned fuel and lubrication oil) by as much as 84 tons, and carbon monoxide by about 120 tons. This was a reduction of 16 percent in hydrocarbon emissions and 9 percent in carbon monoxide.

As a result the park started using E10 along with low emission lubricating oil in it's fleet of 100 snowmobiles in 1997. And the snowmobile rental agencies that operate within the park adopted E10 as well.

Project findings caused West Yellowstone snowmobile and snowcoach rental agencies to voluntarily use E-10 and bio-based lube oils to reduce emissions and increase power. The fleet operators experienced a 60 percent reduction in required maintenance calls, avoided carburetor freezing, and had better power and fuel economy.

The use of E10 may be new to the North East but it has been used successfully in other regions of the country with similar climates for some time.

Source : Montana Department of Environmental Quality

E10 Ethanol and Fuel Mileage

Visit any of the internet discussion forums where ethanol is being discussed and you will always see someone claiming large decreases in fuel mileage with ethanol blends. The problem though with user testimonials is that there is no way to control the other variables that effect fuel mileage in normal day to day driving. That is why formal tests conducted under controlled conditions is the only way to truly measure the effects of ethanol blends on fuel mileage.

Some time back California decided that they needed to move to lower carbon fuels. The move to greater use of biofuels in the transportation sector was part of this strategy and in preparation they started conducting tests to determine how the expanded use of ethanol would effect emissions. One of the studies conducted also reported the effects of ethanol blends on fuel mileage.

Fleet average fuel consumption increased by 1.4% when ethanol content was increased from the zero to the high level.

In this case the high level that they refer to is 10% ethanol. So in formal testing where other variables that could effect fuel mileage are controlled E10 increases fuel consumption by 1.4%. Putting that a different way, if a vehicle gets 30 miles per gallon on straight gasoline, the same vehicle should get about 29.6 miles per gallon on E10 if all other variables other than fuel selection are eliminated.

Source : Effects of Ethanol and Volatility Parameters on Exhaust Emissions