So, when we pay a little more to buy ethanol free gas, we are wasting our money?
If your engine is designed to run on a mix containing ethanol then, yes, you are wasting your money. The power loss is negligible and not noticeable to the average driver. If your car is not designed to run on ethanol mix then you are not wasting your money, the cylinder liners can be damaged by running on the wrong mix.
Your drivers handbook will tell you how the engine is designed.
BMW discovered this when they sent a batch of German engines over to the UK.
The UK fuel ripped the plating off the cylinder liners.
The biggest loss of power we have noticed was caused by the removal of the sulphur from the fuel. The modern HDITurbo engines are designed to run on the low sulphur fuel with a 10% mix of ethanol. The MPG is roughly the same as with the older engines ,but the power available is far higher than with the naturally aspirated engines.
Hope this waffalog helps. :)