Ethanol Gasoline Will
Mean Added Cost To
Owners Of Older Vehicles
Owners of older
vehicles will have to
spend between us$50 and
us$100 to have their
gasoline tanks cleaned
and change the fuel
filter before they can
begin to fill the tank
with ethanol gasoline
that will begin to be
sold at all gasoline
stations in October.
The final cost will
depend on the vehicle
and the mechanic used.
The MINAE (environment
ministry) announced last
week that all gasoline
sold in the country in
October will have a 7%
ethanol mix and diesel
with palm oil, in an
effort to reduce the
country's dependency on
fossil fuel.
Owners of the older
vehicles are been
advised to clean their
tanks and filters as
ethanol cleans corrosion
in gasoline tanks and
passed to the filter,
which can result in the
filter clogging and the
engine stalling.
Gustavo Morales, a
mechanical professor at
the INA, suggests that
all vehicles older five
years could be affected
and recommends the
cleaning before filling
up with ethanol
gasoline.
A mechanic contacted by
ICR suggests to verify
if the gasoline tank is
made of plastic or
metal. If plastic, there
is no need for the
cleaning, however,
suggests that the filter
be changed anyway.
Ehtanol gasoline is not
new to Costa Rica. A
pilot program in
Puntarenas and
Guanacaste provinces has
been ongoing since 2006,
where all gasoline
stations in those
provinces have been
pumping an ethanol mix
in "regular" gasoline. |
