The short answer is phase separation.
E10 absorbs water and pretty soon the alcohol gets saturated and comes
out of solution.
It is a good news bad news situation. The stuff at the top of the tank
is low octane gas. The stuff in the bottom, where the pickup sits, is
low octane vodka sludge. It will not burn and it is pretty nasty on
everything on the fuel system.
Greg, there are millions of cars and trucks running just fine on E-10,
E-15 and E-85 and they tend to run longer (much higher mileage in
today's engines) with no negative affects due to ethanol.
Eethanol's primary purpose is that of an
oxygenater to reduce carbon and unburned fuel in emissions. It
was introduced to replace methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) that was
banned because it was contaminating groundwater.
The phase separation you mention might be a problem in large fuel tanks
(like in a car or boat) if the gas sits for years but I don't think
it's a big deal in a little generator with a gallon of gas in it or a
lawn mower with even less. In any case, I've never had a problem with
it in the generator or small engine gas tanks, even after sitting for years.
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