Live Green, Go Yellow and Sink Your Wallet into Your Boat

With all the hype over ethanol, now nearly ubiquitous as a 10% additive in high pollution areas thanks to the MTBE scandal, one group of users is being left high and dry: boaters. In a car's closed fuel system, ethanol is a good neighbor but in a boat's ventilated fuel system ethanol's ugly side comes out. Ethanol absorbs water from the air, which can cause a motor to lose power or stall. Ethanol also picks up contaminants from storage containers. And when mixed with non-ethanol gasoline already in a tank, the blend can form a gelatinous glob that clogs fuel filters. Just the thing to encounter on an offshore fishing trip. Ethanol can also render rigid fiberglass fuel tanks into blobs of jelly. Boaters are debating the best way around this issue, from filters to converting to diesel power, but in the meantime a lot of classic boats with engine trouble might be going up for sale.

source: wsj