ALEXANDRIA, Va. - Boaters will need to be "extra vigilant" when filling up, warns the Boat Owners Association of the United States (BoatUS).
BoatUS says that while E15 could be fine for some tow vehicles, it's not authorized for use with boats. A strong solvent, ethanol has been known to degrade marine fuel systems, damage engines, add safety concerns, and lead to expensive repair bills.
"When filling up at gas stations, boaters are used to pulling up to the pump and filling up the tow vehicle first, and then putting the same fuel nozzle into the boat," said Bob Adriance, BoatUS director of damage avoidance. "If that happens with E15, it could be a big mistake.
"This is going to be a lot different from the choices offered to boaters today, where it's nearly impossible to misfuel gas or diesel engines, or where there are few consequences when choosing 87 octane over a higher 93 octane gasoline, for example," he added.
When E15 starts to appear in retail locations, boaters must heed the warning on the pump and shouldn't even think about using it in a boat. Here's why:
- While most cars and trucks on the road today have closed-loop systems that can adjust to prevent enleanment, most boats have open-loop systems that do not, adding a greater risk of heat-related damage to a boat's engine with E15.
- Many components on a boat come in contact with ethanol-laden gasoline, including fuel lines, fuel tanks, fuel pumps, fuel injectors, carburetors, pressure regulators, valves, o-rings and gaskets. The compatibility of these components with any blend greater than E10 is currently unknown. The failure of only one of these components in your engine could lead to failure or, worse, a fire or explosion.
- As you increase the amount of water in ethanol, this mixture also becomes more acidic, increasing the potential to corrode metal, including aluminum fuel tanks.
- Warrantees won't help. Marine engines are only warranted for use with up to E10.
Last October, EPA approved a waiver allowing the use of E15 for model year 2007 and newer cars and light trucks. At that time, EPA denied a request to allow the use of E15 for model year 2000 and older vehicles and postponed its decision on the use of E15 in model year 2001 to 2006 cars and light trucks until the U.S. Department of Energy completed additional testing for those model years. NACS expressed industry concerns at that time. The decision to expand the waiver to include 2001 to 2006 vehicles was issued earlier this year.
Gasoline station owners also have expressed concerns over E15 because not all of the existing infrastructure is certified by the Underwriters Laboratories for the fuel. "The bigger issue is the pipes from the tanks to the dispensers and the materials used to connect them, the gaskets, glues and seals," said John Eichberger, vice president of government relations for NACS. To replace underground storage tanks, "you would have to crack concrete to get to them. Add a decimal point to the price."
NACS is advocating legislation that would reform the certification procedures for equipment and provide some misfueling liability protection for retailers who comply with EPA labeling requirements. NACS will also support legislation protecting compliant market participants from liability claims if fuel containing ethanol is at some point declared a defective product.
The agency also announced that no waiver is being granted this year for E15 use in any motorcycles, heavy-duty vehicles, or non-road engines because current testing data does not support such a waiver. These waivers represent one of a number of actions that are needed from federal, state and industry to commercialize E15 gasoline blends.
EPA is developing requirements to ensure that E15 is properly labeled at the gas pump. The label will be designed to prevent refueling into vehicles, engines, and equipment not currently approved for the higher ethanol blend. EPA granted the waiver after considering the E15 petition submitted by Growth Energy and 54 ethanol manufacturers in March 2009. In April 2009, EPA sought public comment on the petition and received about 78,000 comments.
The petition was submitted under a Clean Air Act provision that allows EPA to waive the act€™s prohibition against the sale of a significantly altered fuel if the petitioner shows that the new fuel will not cause or contribute to the failure of engine and other emission-related parts that ensure compliance with emission standards.