OK, I did some research on this one. Yep, it is an oxygenate. This enhances combustibility which in turn reduces high temperature combustion by products such as NOx and SOx. Ever wonder why high perfomance dragsters and such use alcohol based fuels? By containing more oxygen molecules than pertroleum based fuels you can count on higher burning efficiencies. This helps to increase the octane ratings of alcohol based and alcohol enriched fuels. And yes, at present, ethanol can be produced more inexpensively than fossil fuels. Not sure where all this fuel system corrosion stuff comes from. The alcohol may or may not be compatible with some fuel system components based on material compatibility issues. It certainly will not enhance corrosion. I doubt it will eat your paint either, it's not brake fluid for god's sake. All in all, it is not a bad thing I do believe, though haven't researched it yet, that alcohol either adsorbs water or can break down into water over a long period of time. It is just basically a complex hydrogen and carbon based molecule. I need to check on this water thing as it does sound like old wives tale material to me. And that's all I gots for now.
