How come ethanol free fuel has great availability in Iowa, but not in states like Pennsylvania?

[GON]

Something I noticed during my travels over the past few years. Ethanol free fuel seems very available in Iowa, even in very small and remote gas stations. Non major corn producing states like Pennsylvania - it can take a lot of searching to find ethanol free fuel, and when one does, it is often at a very high price compared to ethanol blended unleaded.

I am guessing the agricultural equipment requires non-ethanol fuel is the reason Iowa has such abundance of ethanol free fuel for sale at reasonable price when compared to ethanol blended fuel. But still a bit surprised a top corn producing state has ethanol free so abundant, and non corn producing states do not have same access to ethanol free fuel.

 

[kschachn]

For Pennsylvania in particular if you look at the state laws you will get an answer for that state.

 

[GON]

For Pennsylvania in particular if you look at the state laws you will get an answer for that state.

Thanks, did some searching and found this snippet-

"Proposed laws requiring refiners to offer ethanol-free choices to distributors were defeated in Kansas but approved in a handful of other states, including Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina. Pennsylvania has no such regulation, he said."

 

[kschachn]

Plus they also have large populations that are an EPA nonattainment area just like here in Wisconsin.

 

[Ronsant]

Here in RI we don’t have any ethanol free gas at the pump. Nearby Mass and CT also free of E-0 gas.
I understand that NH has some but that is a 21/2-3 hour drive.
paying $85 for a 5 gallon can of E-0 94 octane VP fuel for my carby motorcycle.
I don‘t understand why a station or 2 doesn’t devote a tank to E-0 and charge $7 a gallon.
motorcyclists boaters, OPE operators, and other gas powered hobby vehicles would seem to be a built in customer base.

 

[Ronsant]

Plus they also have large populations that are an EPA nonattainment area just like here in Wisconsin.

I looked up non attainment areas, so basically bad air pollution areas. Why can’t they sell E-0 there though? E-0 is the same tailpipe emissions as E-10 or -15 isn’t it? And slightly higher MPG I thought. ???

 

[ekrampitzjr]

The EPA requires that motor vehicle gasoline in certain states (or parts of states) have oxygenates to reduce pollution. Today this means ethanol, since MTBE was removed after it was shown to contaminate groundwater. MTBE was able to seep out of tanks and containers easily.

The exception is gasoline sold for aviation, boating, or other offroad use. Avgas to this day is not permitted to have any ethanol as far as I'm aware. The EPA has say-so on every additive placed in fuel for sale, including concentrations and available times of year.

Most of the Northeast including Pennsylvania is included in the EPA oxygenate requirement.

Northern Virginia is included in the requirement, but most stations in the rest of Virginia not included in the mandate still sell only E10 and not E0. There are some exceptions out my way, and they charge a serious premium for gasoline without ethanol. That discourages its use in most vehicles.

 

[y_p_w]

The EPA requires that motor vehicle gasoline in certain states (or parts of states) have oxygenates to reduce pollution. Today this means ethanol, since MTBE was removed after it was shown to contaminate groundwater. MTBE was able to seep out of tanks and containers easily.

MTBE isn't really all that bad. It's not terribly toxic compared to gasoline. It's not safe to be exposed to high concentrations (but who would be intentionally huffing gasoline?), but few people do that. However, the big deal is that even tiny concentrations in water results in an off taste.

 

[kschachn]

MTBE isn't really all that bad. It's not terribly toxic compared to gasoline. It's not safe to be exposed to high concentrations (but who would be intentionally huffing gasoline?), but few people do that. However, the big deal is that even tiny concentrations in water results in an off taste.

Even so some states have banned the use such as California which is a huge market for oxygenate.

Elsewhere EtOH has become a de facto standard due to the resistance of using MBTE.

 

[kschachn]

The exception is gasoline sold for aviation, boating, or other offroad use. Avgas to this day is not permitted to have any ethanol as far as I'm aware. The EPA has say-so on every additive placed in fuel for sale, including concentrations and available times of year.

Here in Southeastern Wisconsin even at the Milwaukee Marina the fuel is E10. I think that holds for all the marinas in the five-county nonattainment area.

 

[y_p_w]

Part of the deal might be the local demand for higher octane fuels. It's a bit complicated, but being able to use ethanol helps immensely with boosting the AKI octane rating. There's only so much higher octane E0 to go around, so ethanol helps. Someone reposted an article on why California was switching premium to 91 AKI, but it does give an idea of how fuel is made and how it meets up with demands for higher octane. It doesn't mention ethanol or MTBE though.

no premium gasoline in SoCal???

no premium gasoline in SoCal???

www.m3post.com

Somewhere in the upper ranges of the stack are the components of gasoline. There are between 10 and 15 different blend stocks, each with a different octane rating, which are mixed together to make gasoline.​

​

The crude oil being used and little else determine the amount of each blend stock available for mixing. Generally, if you just dump all the blend stocks into a bucket, you end up with something around 88 or 89 octane. If you're selective and only mix the good stuff, you can make 92, 93 or even 95 octane. But once you take out the good stuff, you're left with crap--something like 85 octane. Then you have to leave enough good stuff in the bucket to bring this pee-water up to at least 87 octane. This limits the amount of 95-octane gas you can make. If you make 93-octane premium instead, you use up less of the high-octane stocks, allowing you to make a higher proportion of premium fuel.​

​

In the Midwest, where an extensive customer base of good old boys in pickup trucks consume vast quantities of 87 octane, demand for premium fuel is low enough to make genuine high-octane premium.​

So in the end, if there's a lower demand for premium, it might be possible to make more E0. Right now the #1 commodity fuel is RBOB, which is maybe an 85 AKI E0 that will meet the 87 AKI requirement when blended with 10% fuel ethanol.

 

[y_p_w]

Even so some states have banned the use such as California which is a huge market for oxygenate.

Elsewhere EtOH has become a de facto standard due to the resistance of using MBTE.

It's illegal to use in pump fuel, but not illegal in race cars. There's talk about something different being used as an oxygenate.

 

[Slick3914]

I'm in PA and have 3 stations within a 15 minute drive that have ethanol free gasoline.

 

[GON]

I'm in PA and have 3 stations within a 15 minute drive that have ethanol free gasoline.

When I lived in Pillow, PA (moved in 2018), closest ethanol free was Harrisburg, and only one station in Harrisburg had it at the time. Maybe changed since I left. What hasn't changed is I continue to see lots of ethanol free available while traveling through the heartland, and don't see it so much east of the Mississippi/ north of the Mason Dixon line.

Think the contributors here answered the why. Two main factors, clean air (EPA), and the availability of the right stock at the refinery along with demand for premium.

I recently relocated to Columbia, SC and it is readily available here. Even stations like QT advertise the price on the main sign. Of course, Sheetz pulled many of the fuel prices from the main sign (specifically premium unleaded). The best part of leaving PA was never having to go to a Sheetz...

 

[eljefino]

You need a certain number of stations to make bulk distribution worthwhile. Maine seems to have Sunoco 90 octane somehow, at least according to pure-gas.org. Otherwise it's just in 5 gal cans as you've found.

 

[Ronsant]

You need a certain number of stations to make bulk distribution worthwhile. Maine seems to have Sunoco 90 octane somehow, at least according to pure-gas.org. Otherwise it's just in 5 gal cans as you've found.

Thanks to all for educating me on the Oxygenation aspect.
the VP 5 gal pails end up costing $17-18 per gallon - and I don’t really need the 94 octane as my bike can live on 89 or 91. But if you want lead free, it’s 94. The race” gas has lead And I don’t want that. VP also sells E-85 for ethanol fuel race cars. When I asked, I was told that the E-85 at the pump is often much less than 85%.

 

[JohnnyG]

MTBE isn't really all that bad. It's not terribly toxic compared to gasoline. It's not safe to be exposed to high concentrations (but who would be intentionally huffing gasoline?), but few people do that. However, the big deal is that even tiny concentrations in water results in an off taste.

I beg to differ. I used to work in an oil terminal when MTBE was in some grades of gasoline, that stuff would eat Viton seals out of the valves and pumps!
My buddy used to drive tanker truck in Colorado when MTBE was mandated out there. Every time he delivered a load of PURE MTBE, it came up several gallons short. After a thorough investigation the MTBE was found to be actually evaporating through the pores of the aluminum tank! That's 1/4" of solid aluminum!
One time he was driving up a mountain pass pulling a load of MTBE. He had a tailwind but couldn't go very fast. He was eventually overcome by the vapors and passed out!
Then there were the groundwater contamination stories that the EPA came up with.
Trust me, The world is better off without this stuff!

Back to the original question. Non-eth fuel is pretty common here in Florida. Even the WaWa's have it. That is due to the number of boats that we have in this area.

 

[Doc8404]

I'm in PA and have 3 stations within a 15 minute drive that have ethanol free gasoline.

how much is it a gallon?

 

[y_p_w]

I beg to differ. I used to work in an oil terminal when MTBE was in some grades of gasoline, that stuff would eat Viton seals out of the valves and pumps!
My buddy used to drive tanker truck in Colorado when MTBE was mandated out there. Every time he delivered a load of PURE MTBE, it came up several gallons short. After a thorough investigation the MTBE was found to be actually evaporating through the pores of the aluminum tank! That's 1/4" of solid aluminum!
One time he was driving up a mountain pass pulling a load of MTBE. He had a tailwind but couldn't go very fast. He was eventually overcome by the vapors and passed out!
Then there were the groundwater contamination stories that the EPA came up with.
Trust me, The world is better off without this stuff!

Back to the original question. Non-eth fuel is pretty common here in Florida. Even the WaWa's have it. That is due to the number of boats that we have in this area.

I was referring to the concerns about MTBE toxicity. There was a lot of talk about groundwater contamination in small amounts, but the only issue there was with the taste. I certainly understand that anyone can pass out from some sort of solvent if it leaks.

 

[Nukeman7]

Here in RI we don’t have any ethanol free gas at the pump. Nearby Mass and CT also free of E-0 gas.
I understand that NH has some but that is a 21/2-3 hour drive.
paying $85 for a 5 gallon can of E-0 94 octane VP fuel for my carby motorcycle.
I don‘t understand why a station or 2 doesn’t devote a tank to E-0 and charge $7 a gallon.
motorcyclists boaters, OPE operators, and other gas powered hobby vehicles would seem to be a built in customer base.

Try this:

Rhode Island E-0

MA E-0

CT E-0