cyccommute 

If he is suggesting using gasoline inside, opt to avoid spending any time with him in the shop. (I’m assuming a “guy” because women are seldom that stupid). Gasoline is the most hazardous chemical or chemical mixture humans handle in bulk with regularity. There are more hazardous chemicals but you aren’t going to run across one in regular use nor in relatively large volume. Gasoline...or petrol in other parts of the world...is formulated to ignite at some of the coldest temperatures on the planet (-40°C which is the same temperature in Fahrenheit). In winter it is slightly more flammable because of the cold.

Energy wise, rather than compare it to explosives...which it can be compared to...let’s look at it in terms of energy. A gallon (3.75L) has 114,000 BTUs in it. That 28,500 Kcal. That’s the equivalent of 98 jelly donuts. It’s also the equivalent of 33 kWh.

Think on that for an instant. The average US home uses 29 kWh of electrical energy each day on average. That’s all the lights in your house sitting in a bottle waiting to be released in a second if it ignites in one place. In fact I will compare it to TNT. A gallon of gas is equal in energy to 0.03 tons of TNT. That 60 lbs of TNT. That 27kg of TNT. A cup (~250 ml) of gasoline is not equal to a stick of dynamite. It equal to almost 4 pounds of dynamite!

No, it doesn’t explode like TNT. It’s worse. It burns. Explosives make fast moving pressure waves. Explosive smash things. Gasoline burns things, providing enough heat to make material it catches on fire burn on their own. That can be buildings, garages, sheds, or, worst of all, humans.

Just don’t use it outside of a gasoline tank on a car and be aware of how much energy you are sitting on when you sit in your car.