On their own ethanol has about 2/3 the energy of gasoline in their pure form
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...,d.b2U&cad=rja
Gasoline rejects water. Ethanol has the capacity to absorb water even directly from the atmosphere. Water has no energy value that I know of so it would be reasonable to assume that a volume of ethanol that has absorbed water has less energy value than ethanol in it's purest form.
Ethanol, even that which has chemically absorbed water does blend with petroleum. Using those same assumptions then, gasoline that is blended with ethanol now has the capacity to absorb water from the atmosphere(of from the bottom of your tank) and would reduce the energy value of the gasoline.
I have been using lawn equipment for many years and replaced those little clear hoses and primer bulbs numerous times. I have cleaned carbs that have set up over a winter and had rust in them but no signs of water. This is something I don't remember having to do nearly as much as a kid or teen 30 -40 years ago. Sure you would have to clean a carb but the reasons were always obvious because you could see the water in the gasoline. Now I open a bowl and there is no water but it is full of rust. Why?
I can also tell you that years ago a gallon of gas did not go bad sitting in a container in a garage after just a few months. It does now. It turns to something like varsol and has a bad smell.
The HEET that someone mentions is used to put into tanks to absorbs water and run it through the system. It does not get rid of it as he has suggested. That works as long as you have a little bit of water and run that tank out pretty quickly as we do with most vehicles. If it sits in the tank of your ATV, motorhome or lawn equipment for any period of time you are going to have problems. I guarantee it.
I have been using ethanol free two cycle gasoline in lawn equipment and chain saws for about 5 years and haven't had to replace a single hose or primer bulb. The plastic(or whatever material it is) is just as pliable as a new one.
A friend of mine just replace the plastic intake on his 04 Mustang because it had cracked. When he went to get a new one a discussion ensued about why. The parts guy told him it was the ethanol in the gasoline that does that. The ethanol is absorbed little by little into the plastic along with the water it contains and continuous heating and cooling of the water produces micro fractures over time which weakens the plastic. Now I'm no chemist and I don't think this guy was either but it kinda makes sense.
Why don't the manufacturers make or use ethanol resistant plastics? Maybe it's too expensive or maybe it's because they want to continue to sell parts. IDK.
BTW, Some of the arguments about the price of a bushel of corn a barrel of crude or a blending process are really silly. Gasoline is a commodity. It's price per gallon is based on supply and demand. Sure there are some taxes and fixed costs that set a base line but they don't set the price. We as the consumer do. If that were not the case why are the oil companies making record profits each year when the price of a gallon of gasoline has not, not increased at the same rate as the cost of a barrell of oil or when corn prices doubled? That's basic economics.
