This is old, but I'm a pedant:
Originally Posted by bsieker
Secondly, car fuel pumps are usually not submerged in the tank, but somewhere down the line, which their electrical parts away from the fuel line.
This has been largely false for twenty five years or so. Even early EFI cars with downstream pumps usually had an in tank pump as well. Most modern fuel injected gasoline cars have a sole pump in the tank, submerged in fuel when full. Direct injection systems go back to the old days of engine driven pumps, but still have in tank pumps
AFAIK.
Also, you speak of venting. In the context of gasoline automobiles, evaporative emissions are controlled by simple and robust systems. The moisture and fuel contamination problems that kill people in aircraft are extremely uncommon in modern automobiles. I have a vehicle I drive twice a month or so that runs on the same tank of fuel for months with zero issue. (It also does other things that appear to be magic compared to most light aircraft, such as always starting on the first try, never fouling plugs, consuming practically no oil at 15 years old, etc.)
Jet-A, of course, works much differently. I would be very interested in learning how much HC leaves a large airliner in typical use. I would assume the evaporative part is minuscule compared to the poorly combusted part, but I'm curious nonetheless. I expect refueling is the biggest offender.