Fuel comparison charts

MTBE mixes with water. Gasoline doesn't. It also does not bind as well to soil as gasoline molecules. That means it travels quickly with rain water into aquifers. The EPA for years said it was safe until it started showing up in water supplies wherever it was used.

So what's the bottom line on MTBE as it's understood today?

Like many things that our economy rides on - necessary evil...

Don't think it is the toxicity but rather the persistence. In otherwords, it doesn't break down as quickly so it can be less nasty but for a longer period of time.

From the EPA website. Because MTBE dissolves easily in water and does not "cling" to soil very well, it migrates faster and farther in the ground than other gasoline components, thus making it more likely to contaminate public water systems and private drinking water wells. MTBE does not degrade (breakdown) easily and is difficult and costly to remove from ground water. How long will MTBE remain in water? MTBE is generally more resistant to natural biodegradation than other gasoline components. Some monitoring wells have shown little overall reduction in MTBE concentration over several years which suggests that MTBE is relatively persistent in ground water. In contrast, studies of surface water (lakes and reservoirs have shown that MTBE volatilizes (evaporates) relatively quickly.

Aha. Very interesting. Thanks, Kurt.

Unlike the petroleum distillates it is in solution with, MTBE is easily removed by, to name but one, common activated charcoal filtration systems. The scare tactic was nothing more than a smoke screen generated by the petroleum refiners and distributors in a cynical attempt to misdirect the populace (by blaming a government mandated additive) and conceal the actual problem, leaking fuel storage tanks.

As far as I know it was banned in a many states. That is when the EPA and oil cos gave up promoting it and switched to ethanol.

So we should believe someone who has no name, nym or valid email address?

Right. Oh f*ck yes.

Gunner

You shouldn't believe ANYONE based on their name or email address, you mouth-breathing knuckle-dragging moron.

We obviously pay a lot of attention to your nym....(not)...

Laugh laugh laugh!!

Begone troll!!

Gunner

Leases don't mean drilling. Billions of dollars were spent on the large state size leases offshore of California. Then after paying the government for the leases, the loonies pleaded and got a drilling halt and forbade wells out in the water.

Large tracks are held at bay in the gulf. Some were active but shut down after the spill. The area near Miami was rich in oil, but it was held back because of ugly rigs in the skyline. Then Cuba / China moved in and their rig can be seen from Miami.

MTBE dropped miles / gallon. It polluted ground water. And there is a huge bubble of it at the bottom of Lake Tahoe.

Ethanol is hygroscopic and when a tank is a breather and not sealed, it pulls in cool damp air at night, and condenses into the tank. This is a common failure mode of gas now. Special ethanol additives have been developed to trap the water and allow it to be burned. Typically it sits and freezes - cracking small motor parts. I try to run all of them wide open to use up the gas before letting them sit.

And taxes are more than Federal. Tax on the whole product string. And having the Gasoline and Crude oil different commodity and have been the souce of the 'excessive gain tax' - where the oil companies buy crude and sell the results of their work at a much higher value due to the demand price on gas and anti-demand on Crude.

So taxes are from many levels and many methods.

And I live in cattle, gas/oil/timber/farming area of Texas - and the large feed mills have had prices rise (brother worked at a large mill) and the chicken / turkey feed is up as well as dairy cattle feed / horse and pig feed. Any product that used grain - higher gas / fuel cost - rises the cost of feed. Supply and demand is another. Taking feed corn to be turned into this poor example of fuel is shameful. It was easy.

Brazil has special engines. They did it correctly. Indy cars did it also.

Mart> >

It was exposed that MTBE was made in Canada and a certain small investor group - turned out to be advisory panel that voted for MTBE.

MTBE has been banned as soon as anything else was useful in the place.

California dumped it. Other states took longer but understood and got rid it it also.

Mart> >> >>

Wonder about Tahoe. It went deep into the cold and just created a big bubble.

Maybe in shallow lakes that get mixed up all of the time by the wind and boats - it might release itself, but I seem to recall it was heaver than water. So agitation is required.

Mart> >

What are you talking about? There have been no new offshore federal leases issued in California since 1984. Are you talking about state leases? Which ones?

No. There are as many oil rigs operating or contracted in the Gulf today as were predicted for 2013 before the BP oil spill.

No. The nearest exploratory rig off Cuba is over 200 miles from Miami. And it's Cuba and Russia, in this case. It was the last rig off Cuba's coast. It just shut down and is being moved to South America.

I can't chase all of your claims down, Martin. Without citations, they just aren't worth tracking.