The Editor, Sir:

Last Monday, I filled up the empty tank of my 2003 Suzuki Liana with the much-touted E10 petrol. Big mistake, almost immediately the engine started to misfire when idling, under acceleration and at speed. Thinking that the engine control unit (ECU) needed to learn the characteristics of this new gasolene blend, I reset it. Net result? The engine ran okay for about three minutes and reverted to shake-and-shudder mode.

I also own a high-performance AWD turbo-charged vehicle and, knowing that neither Petrojam nor the prime minister will replace my very expensive race-tuned engine, I will not be running that E10 stuff in it.

Environmental awareness

With respect to the reported 'extensive testing' that was done by the 'scientists'. I don't know of a single driver with a normal car that has had a good thing to say about using it.

To add insult to injury, everything I've read so far about this disaster-waiting-to-happen highlights the major drawbacks of this infernal fuel, yet Petrojam and the Jamaican Government suddenly decide (unilaterally, as usual) to "protect the environment".

Where was this environmental awareness for the folks in Bogue Village and Heights who occasionally have to breathe in the odour emanating from the sewerage ponds and battle the seemingly immune to Vape and destroyer possibly genetically engineered mosquitoes that breed there?

But back to the matter at hand. JPS has been doing its best to help me reduce my energy consumption these last few weeks with blackouts that last for three to six hours at a stretch. Many thanks to them for that but wait, Briggs and Stratton advises against using ethanol blended fuels in the standby generator on which I've become so dependent. This raises my next point: Do the high-speed gas turbines that JPS uses to hoover the gasolene from the storage tanks and, by extension, the very money out of our pockets run on E10? If E10 blows up one of their turbines, will my light bill go up - again? Quite likely.

Regarding: the ethanol itself. To think that we can't even produce enough sugar to be self-sufficient, but we're going to produce enough to make this blessed ethanol to offset the rising cost of crude on the world market? What about the reduction in fuel prices at the pump? I'm still waiting.

Hey Petrojam! Here's a revolutionary idea for you. All that retrofitting money would've been better spent enabling our refineries to process the high sulphur content crude that Venezuela has in abundance and is willing to sell to us cheap.

I am, etc.,

EVEREL BAILEY

boombastic2k@hotmail.com