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Where the UK is at on Ethanol in fuel

984 views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  gotojoe 
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a letter to a TR7 owner on Ethanol in petrol United Kingdom



Quote:
"""MP / Dept of Transport reply from on Ethanol!!

Posted by 69Bonni on January 18, 2011, 8:22 pm
86.2.6.131

So here we have it folks!!! my fingers are all typed off now typing this lot!.... Finally got a reply via my MP Maria Miller, she directed it to Lord Henley and the reply was sent to me from Norman Baker of the DFT.

The inclusion of Bio Ethanol in petrol results from EU and UK policy to increase the renewable content of fuel to reduce life cycle greenhouse gas emissions from fuel use. Ahead of the introduction of legislation in Brussels, the European Commission carried out an impact assessment that was published in Jan 2007 ahead of the proposal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by adding Bio content into road vehicle fuels. This Department carried out and impact assessment and consultation on the European Commissions proposals in August 2007, and the list of consul-tees included the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs (FBHVC).

Mandatory targets for increased Bio Fuel uptake to 2013-14 are set in the UK Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation and mandatory 2020 targets are set by Directive 2009/28/EC. Essentially this means that the timetable for the introduction of increased quantities of Bio-ethanol in petrol has already been set and agreed. However both of these legislative instruments set targets in terms of Bio Fuel uptake averaged across they whole fuel supply (5% by volume in 2013-14 and 10% by energy content by 2020 respectively). They do not require fuel suppliers to blend bio fuel into all fuels and they do not specify particular bio fuel blend levels for petrol and diesel. This gives fuel suppliers some flexibility in fuels they supply to meet their targets.

Our understanding is that blending of ethanol into petrol is not at present universal across all UK petrol supply. Historic vehicle interest groups may wish to seek information from specific fuel suppliers regarding the ethanol content of the petrol they are retailing, although this is likely to vary from region to region.

Petrol have been permitted, by both legislation and industry standards agreed by fuel and automotive industries, to contain up to 5% ethanol for many years, and there is no requirement for pumps dispensing it to be marked.
Petrol containing up to 10% bio-ethanol will be permitted to be sold from early 2011, and where petrol containing more than 5% ethanol is supplied, legislation requires the pumps dispensing it to be marked "Not Suitable for all vehicles: Consult vehicle manufacturer before use"

However we expect that fuel suppliers will not increase the ethanol content of petrol beyond 5% until 2015 or beyond. This is partly because of the level of bio-fuel targets to 2014, but also because of supply and economics issues. UK refiners produce a surplus of petrol and a deficit of diesel relative to UK demand and there is therefore more incentive for them to deploy bio-fuels in diesel (Where industry standards permit up to 7% content by volume) in order to extend production and reduce the need for imports.

To better understand the issues of compatibility of fuels containing bio-content and materials used in fuel systems of, the Department commissioned two pieces of research, one covering petrol and diesel and the other effects of using petrol containing up to 5% and up to 10% Bio-ethanol. The research on petrol containing bio-ethanol is of particular interest to owners of Historic vehicles. Both reports will be published soon on the Departments website for information for historic vehicle interest groups.

The research highlighted issues Mr Rickman raised namely the incompatibility of certain materials used in older vehicles, and modern classics such as Triumph, that could lead to components failing. Mr Rickman is correct that some fuel tanks made of "glass fibre" using certain types of resin may be adversely affected and this has been shown in literature from the USA, particularly in tanks manufactured before about 1992. Also there is evidence that some types of fuel tank lining can dissolve in the presence of ethanol, and of corrosion of steel fuel tanks and other metallic components.

However we understand that coating and sealing materials are available which are ethanol-compatible. Similarly, seals and flexible tubing may also need to be changed, and some metal components changed or electroplated to prevent corrosion. The FBHVC may be able to advise Mr Rickman how to resolve his problem in a manner that preserves the originallity of components on his Motorcycles. Their details are FBHVC ltd, Stonewold, Berrick Salome, Wallingford, Oxon OX10 6JR."""
(end quote)

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