Fuel

[Skippydiesel]

Some older engines fuel metering & supply systems will be damaged by ethanol in the fuel.- - do not use ethanol blends.
Many modern engines will run just fine on ethanol blends (see owners manual for recommendations).

Long Term Storage (in excess of 2 months)
If there is any danger of fuel aging to the point of "varnishing" the fuel metering system or separating out (free water);
Drain ALL the fuel from the tank to the metering (injectors/carburettor bowl). This is the cheapest, surest way of minimising in storage fuel systems.
When ready to use engine again, refuel with nice clean, fresh fuel - make sure its being supplied to the metering system. (Freshly charged battery, if required) start in usual way - almost all engines will spring to life without any problem.

 

[Tbone0106]

"Putting corn likker into our gas tanks is truly one of the dumbest things our national government has ever come up with." Consider that it might not be dumb. It might be corruption. What if it is a way to launder taxpayer money? Cargill likes the program so much they give a lot of taxpayer sourced money to both parties in DC. Also, I measured the ethanol content (it is 0-10%) in the gasoline (it is not hard to do) for my car for a while and determined that it would reduce my mpg by up to 20% (My Corolla would drop from 40 mpg to 32 mpg hwy). If I know that, the EPA knows that.

Of course the EPA knows it. In recent years, the EPA has required so much ethanol to be blended into the fuel supply that the fuel supply literally can't take it all. As cars and trucks become more fuel-efficient, fuel production has fallen far short of EPA estimates, and there's no place to put the ethanol. If it weren't so sad and expensive, it would be entertaining.

Based on energy content, a 10% ethanol blend would drop your mileage by 3-4%. (Of course, the EPA never mentions this.) I'm surprised by your findings.