TopGhia

Tonight on the news, the NRMA had a report on the damage ethanol can do to your car, especially the fuel tank and fuel lines, even at a 10% level.

Next John Howard was saying the government will NOT leglistate for a maximum 10% ethanol in petrol. It was also pointed out that one of the largest ethanol producers in Australia is also a large donor to the Liberal Party.

Now the NRMA says that new car owners will not be covered by warranty if it can be proved that the petrol being used has over 10% ethanol.

So all you new car buyers, make sure your petrol is OK, cause if they can prove dodgy fuel, your warranty is useless.

I think we deserve better than this.

Night_Lurker

WTF???? so how will we know if we have too much ethanol?? Is it from bigger refineries such as Shell, Mobil or the smaller ones??? I only fill up at shell

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jemmex

Yeh
but thers NO way of knowing if a servo has Ethanol in Petrol or not, and at what percent
Johnny wont even legislate to make em have to TELL us if they are using methanol, because it will upset his Mate, the ethanol maker.

So now the car co's will void our w'tees coz dodgy fuel, which we dont even know we are buying, stuffs our cars, and there aint NOTHING we can do about it.

...Until the next election...

And you know, this methanol is only cheaper to put in the petrol Coz Johnny put a subsidy on it, from our tax bucks, to his ethanol mate. GRrrrrrrrrrrrr

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TopGhia

Well the news report also said that BP (in NSW, I think) had revoked 3 servo licences because the owners/lessee's were caught putting ethanol in their fuel and not telling anybody.
Why is everybody so f*cking greedy?

__________________
"I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always."

T3man

Hmmmm....could it have anything to do with the way the oil companies screw their operatives to the wall?????? The pump guys are the ham in the sandwich and you really can't blame them for trying to make a living - some are forced to sell fuel for a margin of just 2c per litre - would you like to try running a business on about 3% markup?? If ppl don't buy something from the "shop" the servo goes broke. If they were already making 20% markup then I'd agree it would be sheer greed but this simply isn't the case.

And legislation will not fix it - who's going to police the legislation? The cops are too busy booking ppl for 3km over!!!

I don't think there's an easy answer - until petrol is no longer the fuel of choice.

D_XR8

BP have had a lot of press stating that they will only put 10% ethanol in their fuels. I have been trying for a few weeks now to find out more about who is using what % in the fuels but with not much luck! I have heard that Shell Optimax is one of the worse. My plan of action is to start questioning the servos when I fill up, to see if they know... (which im sure the person behind the counter will know nothing) if anyone has any further info can they please post it to help us out! It is too annoying that it is out of our control but we will be the ones suffering when the problems start with our cars

XAHardtop

From what i've been told, 10% ethanol isn't damaging to your car. On that note the major refineries are selling petrol to wholesalers with 10% ethanol, no more no less. Wholesalers however may change this ratio. This is where damage will occur. That all said, ethanol has been in petrol in many countries for years. Maybe cars will have to be designed with ethanol in mind now. Fuels like optimax, etc won't have ethanol added btw.

I agree with T3man on the point that servo owners to cop a jamming from oil companies.

TopGhia

I think it would come under "weights and measures": it is not a police matter, but a consumer "fair trading" concern.

At least BP are asking us what we think.

http://www.bp.com.au/products/fuels/...l/feedback.asp


If you want to know what the American driver thinks, visit a few US forums and see their opinion on "oxygenated" (read ethanol) petrol. Or you could be brave and join one of them and ask them directly what they think of oxygenated petrol.

Anyway my original message still stands, if you got a new car, be careful of where you buy your petrol, cause your warranty is voided if the fuel is proved over 10% ethanol. And why won't the Government leglislate a 10% cap on ethanol if warranties are voided by using more than 10%?????????


cheers (contains ethanol)

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"I married Miss Right. I just didn't know her first name was Always."

IPhido

I thought everyone knew why howard wont approve a 10% cap.. One of his cronies/friends runs the ethanol adding company which howard has been helping through favourable tax etc..

I know BP has been playing around with ethanol for a while.. Don't think shell was doing much with it.. (I don't think optimax has any in it)..

I have some contacts with chemists at various petrol companies. I wonder if BP will be changing their marketing ideas for Ethanol. I can't belive BP's own testing and reseach did not uncover this..

> -----Original Message-----
> From: XXXXXXXXXXXXX
> Sent: Thursday, 2 May 2002 12:23 PM
> To: G ANZ ALL AUSTRALIA
> Subject: Ethanol Market Trial Update
>
>
> BP Premium Unleaded with ethanol - Market trial update
>
> Our new ethanol blended fuel was launched in Brisbane on April 11. The
> fuel is Premium Unleaded with 10% ethanol and is available at 6 MSF sites.
> We are pleased to report that early indications are very promising.
>
> The initial focus is on product stewardship. The effort involved in
> getting any new product to market is considerable. The unique
> characteristics of ethanol have required even greater vigilance and a
> truly integrated team effort. In particular, the teamwork in the field
> from Bulwer, Whinstanes and Asset Management have made a complex task look
> easy. A great deal of work has gone into establishing product handling
> procedures, from the refinery to the customer, that will assure the
> integrity of the fuel.
>
> The product has only been available for three weeks, but early sales have
> exceeded our expectations. Volumes are up at five of the six retail sites
> and customers are embracing the home grown and renewable attributes.
>
> The pulp blend is only the first step in proving the viability of ethanol.
> If everything goes according to plan, in 3Q we will switch across to
> Regular Unleaded with 10% ethanol and market the product under the
> brand-name Eco Choice. Again the product would be monitored at a limited
> number of sites in accordance with our assurance process.
>
> We will keep you informed of progress in this exciting new programme.
>
> Premium Unleaded with 10% ethanol is currently available from:
>
> BP Express Hamilton
> BP Express Springwood
> BP Aspley
> BP Toowong
> BP Boulevarde
> BP Loganholme
>
>
> More Information
> To find out more about BP's market trial and ethanol blends in general
> check out the Ethanol Q&A's
> <http://austral.bpweb.bp.com/fuels_ma.../ethanol_QA.ht> m> on the Fuels Marketing Intranet
> <http://austral.bpweb.bp.com/fuels_marketing/> site. You can also view a
> PDF version of the BP Premium Unleaded with ethanol brochure
> <http://austral.bpweb.bp.com/fuels_ma...t_updates/PULP with> ethanol brochure.pdf> (it's even printed on waste from sugar refining!).

XF 5.0 S

Do Caltex use ethanol in premium unleaded?