Posted by Ian:
Recreational boating, ATVs and snowmobiling are popular seasonal activities in Elgin county. What then would be the impact of using ethanol-based fuels in these marine and off-road vehicles?
Trouble, according to boat manufacturers in the U.S. as reported in this story from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Washington — At St. Charles Boat & Motor, owner and service manager Jerry Sims used to oversee the rebuilding of 30 carburetors in a year’s time. Last year, Sims says, he stopped counting at 750. They were victims, he claims, of ethanol in gas.

“It’s killing motors right and left,” Sims said. “But the EPA keeps shoving it down everybody’s throats.”

Armed with damage stories and test results suggesting more problems on the horizon, the boating industry is fighting to block a drive by fuel manufacturers to increase ethanol in the fuel supply from 10 percent to 15 percent — or E15.
Full story