Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 10

-ST AVAILABLE COPY ggBKmum 1 i i. I. i ii. mmmt-: i I -s All EITJOKS The Arizona Republic Sunday, February 14, 1988 MTBE or gasohol? Battle of 2 brands a yawner in Denver Liz Vegil fills her car with gasahol at a Denver gas station. "I like to believe in it, because we really need it," she said of the air-pollution benefits of using gasohol.

The fuel is a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. it will eat away the older gaskets in your car, and for some reason, the ether (in MTBE) doesn't." Motorist Lavann Zehnder, 27, selected MTBE. for her '87 Volvo and said her car "doesn't seem to have as much get-up-and-go." "Everyone I talked to says their car doesn't run as well," she said. But Martin Blowen, 34, a self-employed carpenter, had no fears as he filled up his 1964 Ford van with gasohol. "I have a little bit of a mechanical background, and the knowledge I have about the alcohol is that it is actually good," he said.

"It might clean an engine. It's a cleaner-burning fuel and might prolong the life of the vehicle." Elizabeth Carasco, 23, a vegetable seller, said she prefers the gasohol to MTBE because she believes she gets better mileage in her 1977 Monte Carlo. Liz Vegil, 33, an accountant who sported a Denver Broncos button and an orange-and-blue sweater vest, was one of the few motorists who brought up the air-pollution benefits. "I like to believe in it, because we really need it," she said, adding that she has no fears about' using ethanol in her 1981 Chevrolet station wagon. "If they sell it, it's safe." Ethanol, however, is hard to find.

Only about 6 percent of the Denver area stations sell it. "If I saw it, I might give it a try," Mike Purcell, 32, an advertising salesman, said as he pumped MTBE into his 1982 Chevrolet pickup. "I don't know enough about it. There's not enough promotion about it." Ethanol is scarce in the Denver area because MTBE is easier to By BETTY BEARD The Arizona Republic DENVER Like everywhere r-else in the country, motorists here i whip into gas stations and fill up their cars, bored, faraway expressions on their faces. From their looks, it's hard to believe they are part of one of the i most' radical air-pollution-control experiments in the country.

Since Jan. 1, Colorado gas stations along the eastern range of the Rockies must sell only oxygenated fuels for two months this winter and four months next winter. The program is aimed at reducing carbon-monoxide pollu-. tion by 14 percent. This is the only area in the nation where sales of such fuels are mandatory.

The Arizona Legislature is watching Colorado closely. Many Denver motorists interviewed did not know the difference between ether-based MTBE and alcohol-based gasohol despite the labels on the pumps. And most said they have noticed no difference in performance, maintenance or mileage, whether they use gasohol or MTBE. Despite predictions that the price fuel would increase by about a nickel a gallon, the cost either remained the same or fell along with prices of crude oil across the country. "The biggest complaint is that the government says they have to use it," said Ray Lopeman, 21, a cashier at an Amoco station.

The station sells only MTBE, and labels on the pumps brag that the has "no alcohol added." Gasohol is a blend of 10 percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline. Lopeman said the station doesn't sell gasohol "because in older cars, Tom StoryThe Arizona Republic history," said Greg Hobbs, chairman of the carbon-monoxide mittee of the Denver Metropolitan Air Quality Council. Officials eventually compromised to allow both fuels to be sold. The oil companies responded by selling predominantly MTBE, which doesn't reduce carbon-monoxide emissions as much as gasohol. Colorado Gov.

Roy Romer met with oil companies to persuade at least a few to sell gasoline to blend with ethanol. "I'm not trying to choose sides, but I want everyone helping to clean the air. I don't want a campaign of fear and innuendo," he told a recent conference of oil officials, car manufacturers and environmentalists. There still are subtle insinuations that gasohol is bad, such as this disclaimer on a gasohol blend: "The 'fuel' supplied from this dispenser is NOT a product of Phillips Petroleum Co." Ted Hollman, environmental specialist for the state commission that mandated the fuels, said the oxygenated fuels have been blamed even for things that have nothing to do with cars. One caller to a hot line even said a new flu virus identified in Colorado was caused "by all these ether fumes that mutated a normal healthy flu virus," Hollman remembered.

Dick Bradley, chairman of the board of Vent owner of a convenience-store chain that sells both fuels, said he fears many people have a false expectation about oxygenated fuels. "The thing a lot of people are going to be unhappy about is that they think this is going to clean up the brown cloud," he said, referring to the nickname for Denver's notorious visible pollution. "This has nothing to do with the brown cloud." Carbon monoxide is an invisible, toxic gas. Only gauges can tell how well the program will work. Despite the confusion, Colorado officials say, public fears over the fuels have largely disappeared.

Hollman added, "All things considered considering this is the nation's first oxygenate program, it is relatively quiet out there." transport. The bulk of the area's fuel is pre-blended with MTBE, which can be shipped through pipelines. Ethanol, in contrast, has to be blended in storage tanks or tractor-trailers. The two fuels cannot be blended together because the joint oxygen content would exceed that allowed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Oil companies lobbied fiercely against gasohol and in favor of MTBE, which is made from crude oil.

This still irks officials who formed the program. When an advisory council first suggested mandating only gasohol, it "immediately set off the oil industry in what I would call a panic akin to the 1910 (stock) panic and other great panics of world GASOHOL Continued from A1 Figures in the oxy-fuels DEBATE fQ fcrfl rs? ujM i Plls jTfe Charlie Stevens A Phoenix attorney, Stevens is a high-powered lobbyist hired by six major oil companies to represent them in the gasohol debate. Oil companies oppose mandatory sales of alternative fuels, but, if forced to sell them, they favor MTBE over gasohol. Gasohol contains 10 percent alcohol. Oil firms fear that ultimately could translate to a 10 percent loss a multimillion-dollar loss in business.

Rep. Jack Jewett The Tucson Republican is chairman of the House Transportation Committee. His H.B. 2014 passed the House last week. His bill is backed by oil companies because it would let gas stations decide what type of oxygenated fuels to offer.

Jewett says motorists should be able to buy MTBE if they don't like gasohol. MTBE pollutes more than gasohol but less than gasoline. Sen. Robert Usdane The Scottsdale Republican is Senate majority leader. At the urging of clean-air advocates, he introduced two bills that would force most county motorists to use gasohol.

He says the bills by Jewett and Corpstein wouldn't do enough to reduce carbon monoxide. Our health, he says, is more important than a few sputtering cars. Sen. Pete Corpstein The Paradise Valley Republican is chairman of the Senate Transportation Committee. He shares Jewett's views on oxygenated fuels.

Corpstein's S.B. 1174 also would let the market decide between MTBE and gasohol. He has some unusual proposals for cleaning up carbon monoxide, such as rescheduling the Arizona State Fair so it doesn't occur during the high-pollution season. Paul Johnson The Phoenix councilman is a zealous supporter of gasohol and Usdane's bill. He has accused oil companies of spreading scare stories about gasohol while promoting it in other states as an octane booster that increases car performance.

Johnson, who is weighing a run for mayor in 1989, has emerged as a more aggressive promoter of clean air than Mayor Terry Goddard. hol. A comprehensive study done last year by the Virginia engineering consultant Energy and Environmental Analysis estimates that 5 to 15 percent of vehicles on America's roads will have problems with gasohol, such as fuel-filter plugging or stalling. But Lorang Duleep, director of engineering for Energy and Environmental Analysis, said Arizona's climate will sharply reduce those problems. "Because Arizona has pretty good weather, not much rust problem and not much water, I think personally that the number would be closer to 5 percent," Duleep recently told the Arizona House Transportation Committee.

Cars built before 1980 may encounter more problems with gasohol than with gasoline, studies say. And cars built by Chrysler and American Motors may be a bit more sensitive to the ethanol blend, Duleep said. Nearly half of the 1.35 million vehicles registered; in' Maricopa County are 1979 or older models, according to the latest statistics from the state Division of Motor Vehicles. And those 1.35 million cars and trucks spew out nearly 700 tons of carbon monoxide every day, officials say. Despite all the studies, sometimes it takes just one bad experience or hearing about one bad experience to make motorists leery of gasohol.

Patrice Quarg, a proponent of oxygenated fuels with a personal interest in clean air she is Denver and Phoenix areas suffer from alarming carbon-monoxide pollution in the winter months. Both Colorado and Arizona are under the gun of the federal Environmental Protection Agency to clean their air or face a cutoff of highway funds. Congress also is considering a number of bills to promote sales of gasohol to help grain farmers, to feduce the country's dependence on foreign oil and to curb carbon-monoxide pollution. Seasonal use of oxygenated fuels appears inevitable. So the only question that matters to motorists gasohol hurt my car? No, in most cases.

That's the consensus of automakers, various studies, the EPA and motorists who have used it. "Many car owners will notice a difference with gasohol, but virtually air will find performance acceptable," said Phil Lorang, a technical supervisor with the EPA's emission-control-technology division in Ann Arbor, Mich. a some studies, drivers were not told whether they were using gasoline or gasohol, Lorang said. Most drivers noticed such things as a little hesitation in acceleration or stalling in hot weather while using gasohol. 'All major foreign and domestic car manufacturers allow the use of gasohol in current warranties.

Some manufacturers suggest that motorists use ether-based MTBE, the other oxygenated fuel likely to be required in Arizona, if they don't like gasohol. No one knows how many people will encounter problems with gaso programs director of the Arizona Lung Association had a bad experience after she agreed to try gasohol as part of a Maricopa County experiment involving 22 private vehicles. Four days after filling up with gasohol, her 1982 Mazda GLC suddenly lost power last month, stalled and stopped dead. Quarg had to have it towed and was charged $150 for a major tuneup. Mazda mechanics told her the car needed a tuneup anyway.

The alcohol in the gasohol apparently cleaned out the fuel system but clogged the fuel filter. "My assumption is that the solvent action of the alcohol moved things around and plugged things up and took some gunk out of whatever and accelerated problems that would have happened eventually," she said. Nevertheless, she dropped out of the testing program after two weeks because she feared more expenses. "It's very unfortunate. In concept, I really am for it, but I don't know," Quarg said.

"It could be totally coincidental, and I realize that, but I also know what kind of emotional effect it has on me when, four days later, a car that ran perfectly for six years stops running. Who knows?" Mazda mechanics, who admitted they did not have experience with oxygenated fuels, advised her not to use gasohol anymore. "I realize manufacturers of Japanese cars tend to be a little conservative, so I really don't know who to believe, to tell you the truth," Quarg said. None of the other private cars in the test had any problems, nor did 45 county vehicles, said Mark Steinberg, an aide to County Manager Robert Mauney. Also, 418 Phoenix municipal cars and trucks, including 121 police vehicles, had no performance or maintainance problems in a gasohol test between Oct.

1 and Dec. 31. Quarg's case illustrates many of the problems that give gasohol a bad name. If a car that is switched to gasohol develops problems of any sort, mechanics and motorists tend to suspect the fuel, although it could be another problem. Quarg said she had not brought her Mazda in for a tuneup for more than a year.

"I'm not real bad about repairing my cars, but like everybody else, if the car is running fine, I don't do anything to it," she said. Alcohol is a cleanser. It can pick up loose rust and dirt in a fuel system and plug a fuel filter. Experts say some older cars may need repeated filter changes before the fuel system is clean. It is hard to know who to trust on the subject.

Mechanics often are not trained in fuel composition. Oil companies, auto manufacturers and environmentalists tend to use selective data to back up their points of view. Even many tests of gasohol are suspect. Most of them have beerj) criti- An oxy-fuel primer system, causing a car to hesitate or stop until it gets a chance to cool down. Alcohol lowers the boiling point of gasoline and makes it more susceptible to boiling when temperatures exceed 85 degrees.

Legislators expect to avoid this problem by mandating oxygenated fuels only in the winter and by controlling the vapor pressure of the gasoline it is blended with. In another experiment, Phoenix tested 22 vehicles, all manufactured from 1985 to 1987, on gasohol beginning Aug. 17. None has experienced vapor lock, despite temperatures as high as 108 degrees. In Omaha, where gasohol has been sold since the late 1970s, the main problem mechanics warn of is vapor lock in hot weather.

"In hot weather, it can be a problem. That's not just the alcohol. A lot of the newer gasolines WHAT: Oxygenated fuels, unlike gasoline, contain oxygen. Gasohol is 90 percent gasoline and 10 percent ethanol, produced mainly from corn. MTBE is methyl-tert-butyl ether, a crude-oil product that contains no alcohol.

Studies estimate that gasohol reduces carbon monoxide by about 25 percent; MTBE reduces carbon monoxide by about 15 percent. WHEN: Oxy fuels would be required at gas stations from October through February, the worst pollution months. A specific timetable varies with bills pending in the Legislature. vices for Arco Chemical in Newtown Square, Pa. His firm manufacturers and sells about half the country's MTBE.

The big difference between gasohol and MTBE is in cleaning the air. Gasohol is nearly twice as effective at reducing carbon-monoxide pollution because it contains 3.5 percent oxygen, compared with MTBE's 2 percent, according to the EPA. Some sources contend that MTBE may be up to 80 percent as effective as gasohol. The more oxygen content, the less carbon monoxide is emitted. The EPA estimates that if all cars used gasohol, carbon monoxide in the Valley would be reduced by 22 percent.

In an emissions check of 57 of the 418 city vehicles tested last year, Phoenix found that pre-1980 vehicles reduced carbon-monoxide emissions by about 40 percent, while newer cars had average reductions of 27 percent. Another major advantage of both gasohol and MTBE is that they boost gasoline's octane rating, which represents the anti-knock properties of a fuel mixture. The higher the octane rating, the less an engine will "knock" or "ping." In fact, this one of the chief reasons both products are selling so well in other states. The use of oxygenated fuels to clean up carbon monoxide is a new concept that began with Denver's experiment. Here are the most common complaints associated with gasohol, according to mechanics, the EPA and Energy and Environmental Analysis: Vapor lock This is a Condition raiisprl whpti fnpl trets t.nn Vint cized for involving too few cars, cars of only one model, only late-model cars, only poorly maintained cars or only well-maintained cars.

Or they rely on drivers' perceptions instead of actual vehicle problems. Because of the controversy, the EPA is advising Arizona officials not to mandate gasohol as the only available oxygenated fuel. "No one can rule out the possibility that a very small percentage of the fleet will have a serious problem on gasohol, without much warning. They will have a sizable repair bill. They will be unhappy if they have to go back (to using gasohol)," Lorang said.

He said it is important to give consumers an alternate "worry free" fuel that is free of alcohol, That fuel is MTBE, or methyl-tert-butyl ether. MTBE is made from crude oil, acts similarly to gasoline and contains no alcohol. Unlike gasoline, both MTBE, and gasohol contain oxygen. Because it is so similar to gasoline, MTBE apparently causes no problems for cars, according to the Energy and Environmental Analysis study. That study of alternative fuels was commissioned by the Maricopa Association of Governments on behalf of all the cities and towns in the Valley.

There's a good chance that many Valley motorists already are using MTBE. It is increasingly being used as an octane booster in premium unleaded grades of gasoline because of the phase-out of lead. About 15 percent of all gasoline sold in the country last year contained some MTBE, although in varying percentages, said Bill Kil- WHERE: At gas stations in Maricopa County and possibly Pima County. WHY: To reduce carbon monoxide by an estimated 21 percent, or more than 140 tons a day in the Phoenix area. The EPA has threatened to cut off federal highway funds unless Arizona takes this step and others to clean the air.

have the same problem, said Jim Baier, service manager at Atchley Ford a Ford dealership. "There's a lot of pros and cons. I would recommend using it (gasohol). It burns clean, it burns dry, it has a high octane. I use it myself unless it gets over 90 degrees." Fuel-filter clogging Lorang said the most common maintenance problem associated with gasohol is that some motorists, especially those with older cars, need to -replace their gas filters after the first tankful or two until deposits are cleaned out.

Swelling of non-metallic parts in the carburetor and rest of the fuel system Pure alcohol can cause rubber and some plastics to swell. However, non-metallic parts in new cars and most replacement parts for older ars are made of Gasohol, All 1 HOW MUCH: Studies estimate that gasohol would cost 1 to 5 cents more per gallon; MTBE up to 4 cents more per gallon. EFFECT: All major foreign and domestic auto manufacturers approve the use of gasohol and MTBE In current warranties. For owners of pre-1980 cars, some experts say gasohol could lead to stalling and clogged fuel lines. They recommend MTBE for car owners who encounter problems with gasohol.

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