Bay Bridge Marina goes 100% E0
Stevensville, MD, June 28 — 93 octane fuel has been replaced by E0 gasoline at Bay Bridge Marina in Stevensville, Maryland, making it the only marina on Kent Island offering ethanol-free fuel.
The “E” in “E0” stands for Ethanol and the number “0” represents the percentage of ethanol in unleaded gas.
The zero-ethanol gasoline — currently priced at $3.96 a gallon — has proven popular with boaters.
“We have had quite good feedback and needed to refill our tank two weeks after our first sale,” says Peter Morris, general manager at Bay Bridge Marina.
E0’s 89-90 octane rating means that one gallon of E0 can provide more than a third more energy than the same amount of fuel with Ethanol. “E0 is perfect for outboards and high performance engines,” Morris says.
Ethanol can cause damage to fuel systems and engines that pure gas cannot. Because ethanol is essentially alcohol, it can cause corrosion inside the fuel system. “The main problem with ethanol is water contamination and fuel separation,” Morris says. “Ethanol can attract and absorb water — even from the air.”
When an engine sits for long periods of time with ethanol in the tank, fuel separation begins. When that happens, water and gas start to form layers in the engine. When an engine sucks up the pure water layer, severe damage can occur.
Bay Bridge Marina is staying on top of ethanol-free offerings. “There’s an even newer E0 product coming out called Rec-90,” Morris says. “It will have a higher octane rating and we will most likely switch to that when it becomes available.”
Be on the lookout for other changes at Bay Bridge Marina. The fuel dock office will soon be rebuilt, doubling the size of the building and adding our new Ship’s Chandlery with a cooler offering beer, wine, wine coolers, juices and sodas.
