The search for less polluting alternatives for combustion vehicles is still underway and largely passes through bioethanol. Some time ago it began to be used and now we have just arrived at many gas stations E20, the new variant that seeks a lower impact of CO2.
For years we had E5 and later the E10 arrived, which marked the level of percentage of bioethanol that carried each liter of gasoline. That is, the E5 had 5%, the E10 10%and now the E20 has 20%.
Why is a fuel with E20 less harmful to the environment? Well, it is not that fuels with bioethanol do not generate CO2, but the point is that they “return” the one who have previously taken plants during their growth and, therefore, do not provide an extra CO2 to the atmosphere as it happens with fossil fuels.
But the E20 also has its dark side
The positive part is the one we have already commented, but not everything is roses color. There are engines that do not admit such a high percentage of ethanol and, in addition, it also entails another series of problems that may arise, especially in older vehicles.
In theory, the octane of gasoline does not vary despite carrying bioethanol, so in terms of the engine we should not have a big problem a priori. But there may be with other parts of the motorcycle (or the car) that are in contact with gasoline.
And it is that sleeves and carburetors can be affected, damaging them. In the event that it is not going to be used too much, specialists recommend emptying both carburetor and sleeves, for example, during the winter pause.
In the case of deposits it is rather the opposite, the ideal according to experts is to keep it full with the least amount of air inside, again, if we are not going to use the motorcycle for a long period of time and the tank is metallic.
And it is that one of the properties of bioethanol is that it has a hygroscopic behavior, which is the ability of a substance to absorb moisture of the air. This means that in metallic deposits in general there can be greater oxidation.
But there is still more news and it is estimated that the E20, having a higher percentage of bioethanol, will have less capacity to generate energy and consumption could rise 3% compared to E5 (we do not have data on the difference with the E10). Regarding the arrival to the gas stations, it is possible that it arrives in 2028, although the European Union has not established an exact date and, of course, the price is not known, although it does not look like it is cheap …
