The Trouble with Ethanol

What you need to know about the threat of ethanol-blended fuel to your equipment.

By Glenn R. Dinella

Talk with any corn farmer, and they will probably have great things to say about

ethanol.

Talk with any mechanic, and they’ll likely have few good things to say about ethanol, unless they point out the damage it causes to small engines is their job security.

First used as an engine fuel in 1826, ethyl alcohol (aka “ethanol”) has come in and out of favor. Henry Ford was in favor of it as an auto fuel, but Prohibition ended production in the 1920s. Ethanol gained favor again in 1974 when a domestic fuel shortage led Congress to pass the first pro-ethanol bill providing subsidies for each gallon of ethanol blended into gasoline. With recent talk of raising the ethanol blend at the pumps from E10 (10-percent ethanol) to E15 (15-percent ethanol), ethanol is again a hot topic in the landscape industry.

First, a Positive Note

Some lawmakers and the Corn Growers of America point out 97 percent of ethanol is produced from corn, so ethanol is domestically produced – unlike most petroleum oil we burn in the United States.

Mechanic Craig Douglass of Bob’s Power Equipment in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, holds one of the most vulnerable parts to ethanol – small engine carburetor.

 “There’s a lot of information out there regarding the adverse effects of ethanol. It’s not all adverse,” says John Foster, manager of product compliance, Stihl. “Obviously, the goal is to reduce our dependency on foreign oil. In that respect, our industry is not opposed to ethanol. We’re just concerned about higher ethanol blends in engines.

“E10 has been on the market since the 80s,” Foster says. “It was problematic for all engines due to compatibility issues – primarily rubber gaskets and seals. Gasohol could dissolve those materials within a matter of weeks. But that was the ‘80s, and we’re in a different time now.”

Some environmentalists note unlike fossil fuels, corn is a rapidly renewable eco-friendly resource, and corn plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. But even this positive aspect of ethanol often is debatable.

Now, the Bad News

Ethanol nay-sayers say if dense forests or grasslands are cleared to grow corn, there is a net loss of oxygen and species diversity, plus more chemicals are required to maintain healthy corn.