[Ian Anderson]

Back in the late Rohodesia days / and then early Zimbabwe days (Late 70's early 80's) they too had a fuel problem (sanctions meant that we were not supposed to be able to source fuel)

So we had a huge sugar cane production in the country and they in power decided that a 25% ethanol petol "blend" (as it became known) was good for the country.

A couple of things happened the fuel consumption dropped (less miles per gallon) and the evaporation rate increased horribly in the summer (Mid30 degree celsius upwards) - especially with a tank less than half full (remember back then tanks vented to atmosphere - so probably different now)

Also most cars were carb fed then and now are injection.

BUT

From where the fuel entered the car
Filler cap seals perished in the fumes
Fuel hoses split (the plastic was eaten by the alcohol)
SU type (click click) fuel pumps had the rubber membrane bit perish
Some pumps (Click Click type) had non return valves in a plastic / nylon units which deformed and the non return valves failed (pump stopped working)
Fuel pumps on VW beetles etc (cam driven fuel pump) had the rubber membrane fail and you got a lethal fuel / oil mix in the sump (didn't lubricate properly and with a spark blew the sump off)
SU fuel pumps float needles had a plasic alignment bit that melted and card flooded as the float did not seal off
Engines wore far more rapidly - Gurus said the ethanol washed the bores all the time) We all ended up using an upper cylinder lubricant (Castrol R also worked well and smells so good!)
2 Stroke bikes had to be adjusted to get more oil mixed in to the fuel
Exhausts rotted (seemed to be more water in the gasses - to the extent they welded a bolt on the bottom of each silencer and drilled a hole through the bolt center to allow water to drain but all exhausts sounded like they were blowing)
Oh yes they also came out with a different gasket sealer for fuel related bits that was not affected by the alcohol

So there were problems but they were not insurmountable back then but wih injectors, HP fuel injection etc things could be different.

But make sure you get all the fuel lines etc in alcohol proof pipe.

And the last thing was the batches of the Blend varied widely from nil to almost 50% depending on which prat was doing the mixing!

Sorry cannot be more helpful on current issues but can certainly help with the past

Cheers
Ian