Back in my day petrol was better and cheaper. Unfortunately innumerate environmentalists and corrupt corn farmers have persuaded our lawmakers to insist that the distilleries debase it with ethanol. The net effect of this is more atmospheric CO2 production (fertilizers, diesel for the tractors, coal for the electricity for the distillation, road fuel for transportation). More concerning for me is that it rots the rubber in our old cars' fuel lines, the brass in the fuel pressure regulators of our fuel injected motorbikes, and the carburettor diaphragms in our chainsaws and lawnmowers.
There are however a couple of things we can do to keep our chainsaws happy. Pure ethanol is soluble in petrol, but it's much more soluble in water. If you mix up say 700ml of E10 petrol with 300ml of water and a few drops of food colouring the ethanol will dissolve in the water, but the water is insoluble in the petrol and you'll get two fractions, 370-ish of coloured water and 630ish of actual petrol. After it's settled you can decant the petrol or tap off the water. Don't drink either fraction.
Believe it or not there is a community of amateur petrol quality inspectors who do this test and also try to determine the actual RON numbers.
I don't know how long it'll stay this way, but Tesco Momentum 99 keeps coming up as genuinely having a RON of 99, and containing absolutely no ethanol. That's what my chainsaw drinks.
Richard "We're going to need a bigger separatory funnel" B
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