So when did Esso decide to put ethanol in their petrol? Stopped at my local Esso garage (in Suffolk) this morning to fill up with their expensive stuff, and the pump clearly said it contained 5% ethanol... I thought it was one of the few brands that had no ethanol? Does anyone sell ethanol-free any more?
Don't know .... but you have my sympathy .... I can dig out some photos of the damage it's done during my years of living abroad . It attacks the tubes inside the tank and turns them into something like putty , which then clogs the filter and finally wrecks the fuel pump , by gumming it up with sticky goop .
The Esso website presently says in its Frequent Questions that: ‘There is currently no requirement for renewable fuel (such as ethanol) to be present in super unleaded (97 grade petrol). Esso super unleaded petrol (Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97) is ethanol free (except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland). We would therefore advise anyone who has concerns about the presence of ethanol in petrol to use Synergy Supreme+ – providing they do not fill up in Devon or Cornwall, the Teesside area or Scotland.’ https://www.esso.co.uk/fuels-faqs
Well a big thank you to Esso for that very specific info . And if you happen to live in one of those counties mentioned ( which is really very strange , and hard to fathom ) , the solution is simple ..... just drive into another county to fill up ....
Well, you would think so, but in fact you couldn't be more wrong !! Studies show that far from reducing emissions international production can produce up to 420 times MORE CO2. This has been known as far back as 2008 apparantly & the Government is well aware of this. Although biofuels are in theory carbon neutral, the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the growth, harvesting & transporting the crops or producing the ethanol from them are not taken into account. An RAC spokesman, Simon Williams, says E10 could mean 600,000 vehicles won't be useable. Most belong to lower income groups, that's why they drive older vehicles because they can not afford new vehicles. E10 fuel in these engines will make them run badly with poor start performance & "pinking". Ironically this reduces engine efficiency & increases emissions. Furthermore the crops tend to be grown in poorer nations, who strip vast reserves of forest to grow these crops to the detriment of food crops, which would be more benificial to them !
Just curious, does anybody know why Esso Synergy Supreme+ Unleaded 97 is ethanol free except in Devon, Cornwall, the Teesside area and Scotland ? Are other producers' fuels the same ? Just sounds bizzare to me !
Exactly so ! It's a very murky global business and the more you dig into the details , the dirtier it gets . Land gets taken out of food production ( which is very much needed locally ) and used to grow plants for bio-fuel , which can then be exported for a much higher profit , although very little of that money reaches the local people who are working the fields . And then there is the "invisible export" of water , which is scandalous . It sounds bonkers at first , but the vast amounts of water used to raise those crops is taken from people who badly need it to feed themselves . Kenya squanders a huge quantity of water to grow the bunches of flowers that we all see in the supermarkets . Oh yes .... they are also in petrol stations , right near the door ! Same coin , just different sides .... [/RANT]
Hmmm.... ethanol in Scotland? That must be a good reason to cross the NC500 off your “Must Do Biking Roads” bucket list surely?
