OPINION:
I found “Increasing number of Americans are willing to drive farther, pay more for ethanol-free fuel” (Web, April 25) interesting but lacking in real data. There is a growing demand for E0 gasoline but it isn’t just because ethanol tends to damage fuel systems; it’s because ethanol reduces overall gas-mileage efficiency.
I have found that my car is 17 percent less efficient on E10 than it is on E0. On the road at 65 miles an hour in my Chrysler Voyager, I get 30 miles to the gallon when using pure E0 gasoline and about 25.5 miles to the gallon when using E10 gasoline. I have known this fact since E10 was first being sold here in the United States.
I have written to federal agencies, newspapers and even “Myth Busters” to get someone other than the federal government to do some valid efficiency testing. They claim that E10 lowers gas efficiency by only about 1 percent, which is totally bogus. I doubt that the federal government has done any testing for fear of what it might show.
My old boss at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission always said that figures don’t lie — but liars can figure. The testing I have done is interesting, because it means when I use E10 gasoline I burn all of the ethanol and seven percent more pure gasoline than I do when I go the same distance on pure gasoline.
Ethanol may make the air a little cleaner, but at a cost of burning 10 percent more ethanol and more pure gasoline, thereby creating more carbon emissions. The federal government is quick to come down on Volkswagen for its bogus data, but who holds the federal government accountable?
JACK DUCKWORTH
Burke, Va.
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