A lower ethanol blend of 3.0 percent or 5.0 percent has been proposed to the Department of Energy (DoE) to serve the requirements of the carburetor-fed motorcycles.

In a correspondence channeled to the DoE’s oil industry management bureau, the motorcycle industry raised concerned about the impact, primarily the compatibility of 10-percent ethanol blend (E10) to their engines.

They cited potential “material incompatibility to the effect of the fuel to their carburetor systems,” hence, the proposal for the oil companies to make available gasoline with lower ethanol blends.

The energy department is being shuddered with concerns as the oil industry prepares for the full implementation of 10 percent ethanol blend by 2011. That policy timeframe entails that all gasoline pumps will already be carrying E-gasoline products by then.

The mandate of the Biofuels Act for a higher blend is also coming at a time when fundamental concerns, such as ethanol supply sourcing, hovers in uncertainty.

Apart from motorcycles, it was gathered that the DoE is also swamped with inquiries on the “appropriateness of E10 to old carburetor-fed vehicles and to other old vehicles in general.”

Most of the personal accounts raised with the department though is on the refusal of vehicle owners to load E10, and will instead prefer using conventional gasoline products.

Reports on ethanol being a highly-corrosive element must be explained well to the consumers, the department indicated, otherwise the public’s refusal to patronize E10 products will just undermine whatever gains the biofuels policy has already cornered.

At this point, it was noted that the poor reception of the public on E10 cannot anymore be attributed on them not knowing on the availability of the product at the pumps “but on the suitability of the fuel to their vehicles, whether old or new.”

On the part of the oil companies, the public’s repugnance in patronizing E10 technically impacted on their sales. That is considering that they made additional investments to upgrade or retrofit their facilities to accommodate the introduction of E10 in the market.