Log in Subscribe
Sportsman Outdoors

Boaters warned against E-15 fuel!

Jack Danchak
Posted 8/26/22

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of 15% ethanol (E-15) gasoline this summer. This move waives Clean Air Act rules, which normally prohibit sales of this smog-inducing …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in
Sportsman Outdoors

Boaters warned against E-15 fuel!

Posted

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the use of 15% ethanol (E-15) gasoline this summer. This move waives Clean Air Act rules, which normally prohibit sales of this smog-inducing blend through September 15. In June, the U.S. House passed a bill that allows for year-round sale nationwide of E-15 ethanol blend, similar to provisions included in Biden’s executive order aimed at providing the cheaper fuel for motorists throughout the summer months and alleviate demand for petroleum in order to reduce crude oil prices.

According to the Boat Agency, the nation’s largest boating advocacy group with 805,856 members, E-15 is prohibited by federal law to be used in boats, off-road motorcycles and recreational vehicles, and lawn and garden power tools and equipment. Using E-15 also voids the automobile engine warranty when used in vehicles not designed to burn it.

Even if it were not illegal, the Boat Agency emphatically advises voters to be careful to not use E-15 in boats deliberately or accidentally this summer. There can be confusion at gas stations if the labels do not clearly indicate what is being dispensed at each pump. Experienced boaters deliberately will seek and use the more expensive and less available pure gasoline.

However, an effort to save money, motorist and boaters may instinctively reach for the least expensive pump when fueling their automobiles and trialed boats. However more octane results in poorer mileage, so the savings is not as it appears.

Keep E-15 out of the tanks of all two-stroke engines or be prepared for the worst, industry analysts say. The Outdoor Power Equipment Institute has long maintained that the use of E-15 fuel can cause irreversible damage also to lawn and garden tools and equipment.

In addition to the extra smog produced by burning E-15 in the warm months, the production of additional corn for ethanol fuel has been very costly for the landscape. With the need to supply more corn to ethanol production plants, 1.2 million acres of virgin prairie grasslands were plowed under just in Nebraska and the Dakotas.

In conclusion, the shift to using more E-15 fuel will actually cost people more money and less savings in the long term.

 

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here