LAB-40-The E15 Ethanol Fuel Controversy & Breakdown | Should I use E15 Fuel in my Motorcycle? - a podcast by Ryan Urlacher | Street Biker, Motorcycle Rider

from 2014-03-30T06:11:24

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PODCAST-In this episode we cut through all the smoke, mirrors, politics, and money involved with the rising controversy about whether or not E15 ethanol fuel, also called renewable fuel, is safe to be used in motorcycles, ATV's, and small engines. We have a very heated discussion and really break it down on this biker podcast episode for all the bikers/motorcyclists out there, who have a right to know whether E15 fuel is safe to use. Biker/motorcyclists should know that if you use E15 in your motorcycle it will likely VOID YOUR WARRANTY. Read your motorcycle owner's manual and paperwork, as it likely states in there somewhere that using E15 fuel will void your motorcycle's warranty. It is in the Harley Davidson manual for certain, so beware. Also know that the EPA is pushing E15 fuel and you may get confused and use the fuel in your motorcycle by mistake from blender pumps that are already in service around the country. Be very cautious when fueling your motorcycle and read the labels. You really must listen to this podcast episode to get all the details!

Alcohol in E15 fuel is mainly made from corn and contains less combustible energy than gasoline. E15 fuel first became available at gas stations in 2013. E15 is currently offered in Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin. It is thought, but not proved, to be the cause of some engine failures that motorcyclists have experienced and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) can not prove otherwise at this point. In fact, the EPA has approved E15 use only in 2001-and-newer light-duty vehicles, which include cars, light-duty trucks and medium-duty passenger vehicles. The EPA has not approved its use in any motorcycles or ATVs.

The EPA said, "Nearly all gasoline sold in the U.S. is now E10," which is fuel with up to 10 percent ethanol. E15 is a fuel blend of 15 percent ethanol and 85 percent gasoline. Accidental use of E15 by bikers/motorcyclists has led in some cases to void motorcycle warranties and in some extreme cases motorcycle engine failure.

The federal Renewable Fuel Standards program, which the EPA administers, requires that 18.15 billion gallons of renewable fuels such as ethanol be blended into gasoline and diesel fuel in 2014. The standards ensure that transportation fuel sold in the United States contains a minimum volume of renewable fuel as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Federal law also gives the EPA administrator flexibility to reduce the required volume of renewable fuels in any year.

EPA Administrator Regina "Gina" McCarthy took advantage of that flexibility by recognizing the "blend wall" and proposed reducing the amount of renewable fuels to be blended in 2014 from 18.15 billion gallons to a proposed range of 15.0 to 15.52 billion gallons, with a recommendation of 15.21 billion gallons. On March 4, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Regina "Gina" McCarthy to replace Lisa Jackson as head of the EPA.

Production of renewable fuels has been growing rapidly in recent years. However, at the same time, advances in vehicle fuel economy and other economic factors have pushed gasoline consumption far lower than what was expected when Congress passed the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2007. As a result, we are now at the 'E10 blend wall,' the point at which the E10 fuel pool is saturated with ethanol."

American Motorcycle Association (AMA) Vice President for Government Relations Wayne Allard says, "We're glad to see that the EPA is taking this action today, though this is not a long-term solution for motorcyclists who worry that the use of E15 fuel could damage their engines and void their warranties," The American Motorcyclist Association remains committed to AMA members-and all motorcyclists-as we continue to support legislation that prohibits E15 fuel."

Video-Secret, Dirty Cost of Obama's Green Power Push:

There is some good happening in all this. President Obama has signed into law recently a provision to stop the future distribution of E15 fuels across the U.S. It prohibits the use of grant money by the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to purchase and install ethanol blender pumps to dispense E15 at retail gas stations. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack had intended to use REAP funding to install a further 10,000 blender pumps in the U.S. by 2016.

The AMA said that it considers this farm-bill provision a major victory for the owners and riders of the estimated 22 million motorcycles and ATVs currently in operation in the U.S.

Since 2011, the AMA has campaigned to prevent the distribution of E15 fuels, seeking independent scientific tests on their effect on motorcycle and all-terrain vehicle engines and fuel systems. After the introduction of E15 into the marketplace, the AMA fought its spread, because of concerns about people using the fuel by mistake from blender pumps. “It is gratifying to see our efforts on behalf of U.S. motorcyclists and ATV riders achieve this level of success,” said Wayne Allard, AMA vice president for government relations. “We plan to continue to monitor the E15 issue, including the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to reduce the 2014 requirements under its Renewable Fuel Standard.” The bottom line," said Allard, "is that this decision certainly slows the unnecessary rush on bringing E15 fuels to market for at least the next year, but it doesn't address the central issue that real-world motorcyclists face, and that is that no motorcycle currently on the road is approved for E15 use, and the risk of inadvertent misfueling is tremendous once it is available at the pump.

The below video is of a Science Committee Hearing: "Strengthening Transparency and Accountability within the Environmental Protection Agency". In this video Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner questions Gina McCarthy about E15 fuel and the lack of testing that has been done in regards to its use in motorcycle motors. Needless to say, Gina McCarthy looks like a babbling idiot and has no real answers, which should make you even more concerned about the underlying reasons the EPA is trying to push E15 fuel on the motorcycling community.

Keep the rubbers side down and the shiny side up!

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