BL, I have stood corrected about the ethanol in gas in California.
*What I do understand is that California is NOT required to oxygenate their fuel under the Clean Air Act because of a waiver the state received. This is NOT the case were I live in a 5 county area of PA. Oxygenated fuel IS still required which of course means there WILL be ethanol in it because MTBE has been banned by the EPA. My first fuel sample had 10% ethanol in it. *This is how I understand the complicated law.
George you lost me on those numbers. First I never said mixing water in fuel then extracting the water/alcohol mix would remove ethanol from mogas. It appears that it does but things may not be what they appear. Another thing to consider is the final octane level of the fuel after the ethanol is removed. I'm sure my Cub certified for 73 octane won't mind but would the modified mogas meet the STC?
Just for fun here are my numbers.
Our benchmark with be to obtain 40 gal. of fuel.
40 gal 100ll @ 4.24 per gal = $169.6 @ 4.00 per gal = $160
With 5% Ethanol I'd have to buy 42.2 gal of mogas @ $3.00 per gal = $126.60. 2.11 gal of Ethanol would be removed leaving 40.09 gal of mogas. With 10% Ethanol I'd have to buy 44.5 gal of mogas @ $3.00 - $133.50. 4.45 gal of Ethanol would be removed leaving 40.05 gal of mogas.
So since $4.24 is the current price at my airport for 100LL and I can currently buy 5% and 10% Ethanol laced mogas I can save between $36.10 and $43 in this scenario at this time. If I flew around and found $4 100LL I'd still save at least $25.
Now what to do with the ethanol laced water. Well ethanol makes a pretty good solvent. The mix would probably be smilier to cleaners 409, Fantastic or Windex when used to clean oil residue of the bellies of aircraft. I'll bottle the stuff and sell it for $6 a bottle to rich pilots. It might take a year or two but my new multi-million dollar company will probably need a G4 or or S76 so I won't give a darn about buying 100LL or mogas.
