I just emptied out my motorcycle gas tank after it sat half-full over a long, cold winter.
So now I’ve got about a gallon of old gas (that’s probably dirty and somewhat chemically decomposed) that I’d like to dispose of in an environmentally-friendly way and without breaking (too many) laws.
Any ideas?
I know gas stations take old car oil, but will they take gasoline too? How about the HazMat guys at the Fire Department? Or the Sanitation Dept.? Or the Dept. of Environmental Protection?
Or how about some other company/organization that would put my waste gas to some good use?
stuyguy, I often have a similar problem of gas that has sat in a tank for ages. Here’s my input. First of all, I think gas will keep pretty well, not go sour or anything like that. I have noticed that very old gas makes the bike a bit harder to start and I atrribute this to the more volatile components having evaporated. It is not a serious problem but my trick is to mix it with fresh gas and again it’ll start on the first kick.
If it has sediment or condensation, that is a separate issue and not really related to how long it has been in there. A good filter (which you should have anyway) will take care of that.
So, I think you can pretty much use that gas. But if you want to get rid of it, I can see no harm in burning it (carefully). I’ve got rid of some diesel recently by just burning it in the yard. I can’t think it would be bad in any way.
I’d suggest, if you live within easy range of one of a marina of any decent size, you make a trip to a local marina or boatyard. Most will have tanks for disposing of waste engine oil, diesel, gasoline, bilge water that’s mixed with oil, etc. I suspect management won’t charge for your small amount; find and talk to a mechanic first.
And you are being ridiculous. Gasoline is only dangerous in large concentrations, and it is part of the environment to begin with- it didn’t come from Mars. What do you suppose a recycler does with it? Purifies it and resells it to somebody else who burns it. What does the recycler do with the “bad” part of it? They “dispose” of it, which usually means dumping it at a specially-designated landfill somewhere, or it is used as fuel oil (it gets burned). In which case, all of it ended up being burned, and you besides if they charged you for “recycling” it. - MC
Wow…sailor is single-handedly destroying the environment. Who knew?
There are different degrees of harm and destruction, and given the tiny amount of fuel involved this really is a silly thing to pick on. What do you think would happen to the gas in an IC engine? That’s right - it would be burned. Yes, it would be burned usefully, but one has to keep the relative amounts in mind here.
And no, burning gasoline or diesel in a yard, even with inefficient combustion, is not nearly as toxic to the environment as dumping it in a river. Come on, think about it.
Chas.E, When you burn half a gallon of gas in your back yard you are producing the same pollution (or less) than when you burn it in the engine of your car. Now, I do not know what mileage yours gets but mine would have gone about 5 miles on what I burnt. Anybody who drives 5 miles is “destroying the environment”? We need to throw a lot of people in jail then. Or what the heck are you talking about? I am not inclined to calculate it now but your mere existence and breathing produce about the same amount of CO2 in a few hours. Would you care to stop breathing? Evry time you breathe you are “polluting” the air with CO2. And I am not even going to mention that furnace you have for heating. Or what the heck are you talking about?
Anthracite, I am appalled, usually you are more rational in your analysis.
Dumping your diesel fuel pollution into the air is EXACTLY as bad as dumping it into the water. The only difference is you’re polluting a vastly larger pool, the entire atmosphere, so it seems to be invisible because it’s incredibly diluted instead of forming a slick on top of the water and dispersing more slowly. When you throw something away, there is no “away,” just “somewhere else” which usually happens to be where someone else IS. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re throwing away your hydrocarbon pollution into the air or the water, both are part of the environment, and if you do either one, you are destroying the environment.
And I warn everyone not to give me that stupid “stop breathing” argument about CO2 if you ever meet me in person, or you’ll receive a practical lesson in stopping breathing from a hard punch in your solar plexus.
Of course. We don’t want to kill all the fish and seaweed in the upper atmosphere.
Exactly. I’ll tell you what… you drink a gram of poison, I’ll drink a nanogram of poison. Which do you think will be more harmful?
I take it that you produce absolutely zero emissions, lest you wouldn’t be so arrogantly condemning people for what is an every-day occurrence.
I take it you recognize that such a threat are the words of a small man. I trust that you’ll manage to desist from blowharded announcements like this in the future.
Spread it.
There is nothing in gasoline that is not present in dirt.
As a matter of fact guess what your asphalt road is made up of???
What is that stuff anyway???
Ok, strictly speaking, burning the fuel would have some miniscule negative impact on the environment as a whole, in that it could be repurified and burned to obtain work, rather than going to waste–and thereby reducing the need for more oil drilling and refining by .00000000000000000001%, or whatnot.
That said, of course dumping it in the water is worse.
Look, when you burn gasoline, you are–for the most part–converting hyrdocarbons to H20 and CO2. So the atmosphere gets some more oxygen, some more carbon dioxide (neither of which are bad), and a bit of crappy things like carbon monoxide and additives from incomplete combustion.
When you dump gasoline in a river, some fish gets a mouthful (gillful, whatever) of the stuff, becomes ill, and dies. Jimmy the Amoeba Colony dies horribly. Dump enough, and Billy the Fireworks-Lighting Kid sets the whole bleedin river on fire. Alrighty then?
I don’t think you understand the chemistry involved here. Gasoline and diesel are reasonably toxic to wildlife in their unburned form. Yes, when burned they yield CO[sub]2[/sub], some CO, some NO[sub]x[/sub], and some SO[sub]2[/sub]. But saying that it is EXACTLY as bad is just false, and is not supported by biochemistry.
Diesel oil spilled into a drain can kill and poison many animals directly. Diesel oil burned does hurt the environment somewhat - from the emissions. But it is not likely to directly be toxic or kill wildlife - not nearly like dumping it into a river.
I’m sorry that you don’t think I’m being rational. On the contrary, I think you are not arguing from a firm scientific basis.
Wow…I don’t like where this thread is going. Not at all. Moderators?
Can’t I leave you kids alone for a few hours without you arguing among yourselves?
Now, let’s put all this bickering aside and get back to helping me get rid of this gasoline. And thanks for some of the substantive suggestions thusfar. Keep 'em coming.
Chas not to pick on you but burning gasoline into the atmosphere is what all vehicles do. Whether you burn a quart of gasoline inside or outside the motor makes very little difference. So, as I said, burning a quart or two of gas in your yard pollutes the same as driving your car just a few miles. Gasoline is toxic. Burnt gasoline is not, it is water and carbon dioxide. If you do not understand this you really need to brush up your chemistry.
You should take pause before contradicting an expert in the field like anthracite.
Now you can hit your forehead with the palm of your hand and say “ok, now I get it” or you can continue arguing foolishly. If after reading all this you still don’t get it, I would advise you do a little reasearch before posting again.
Here’s one that may help.
If you feel that it has turned bad, you could add a few ounces back into your bike’s gas tank everytime you fill up. That should not adversely effect the way it runs, and after a few weeks you will have gotten rid of it…or destroyed the environment, whichever way you want to look at it.