Gasohol

[mil_dos]

On a recent road trip, PTT gas stations that we stopped at had labels stuck over the 95 octane pumps and were selling gasohol from these pumps.
WTF is gasohol ?

[STEVE G]

Gasahol is a mix of Ethanol and Petroleum, it can be used the same as 95 octane unleaded petrol/gasoline.
The reason its produced is that Ethanol can be made in Thailand from local crops such as sugarcane,rice, tapioca etc.
For anyone with conections in Isan, sugarcane grows very well there!

[mil_dos]

Thanks Steve.

Next question :

When the car park attendants and similar blow their whistles excitedly, am I meant to stop or keep going ?

[Guess]

Stev is right but I had to look it up because Ethanol has known advanatge over Gasoline in terms of cleanliness and energy content. The down side is that i9t is more expensive than Gas. I could not understand why they would mix it with Gas and sell it for the same price. Anyway ther is more to the story:

GASOHOL [gasohol] a gasoline extender made from a mixture of gasoline (90%) and ethanol (10%; often obtained by fermenting agricultural crops or crop wastes) or gasoline (97%) and methanol , or wood alcohol (3%). Gasohol has higher octane, or antiknock, properties than gasoline and burns more slowly, coolly, and completely, resulting in reduced emissions of some pollutants, but it also vaporizes more readily, potentially aggravating ozone pollution in warm weather. Ethanol-based gasohol is expensive and energy intensive to produce, and can damage rubber seals and diaphragms and certain finishes if the ethanol is present in higher concentrations. Since 1998, however, many American automobiles have been equipped to enable them to run on E85, a mixture of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline. Methanol-based gasohol is also expensive to produce and is toxic and corrosive, and its emissions produce cancer-causing formaldehyde.

Seems like it is OK to use so long as the proporions aren't inscreased in favor of the methanol/alcohol.

Perhaps the authorities should look at the feasibility of using the waste produce of late night bar revellers in Hua Hin. At the moment vast quantities of alcohol a re simply being wasted by flusing them into the drainage system via bar toliets.