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Data on Ethanol in Gasoline
Citation:
Weaver, Jim. Data on Ethanol in Gasoline. Presented at ASTSWMO Fuel Oxygenates and Additives Meeting, March 21, 2012.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation for the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Officials Fuel Oxygenates and Additives Meeting on March 21, 2012 in St. Louis, MO.
Description:
Gasoline composition varies for technical, market and regulatory reasons. Knowledge of any one of these is insufficient for understanding the chemical composition of gasoline at any specific location in the U.S. Historical data collected by the National Institute of Petroleum and Energy Research and its successors was used to compare gasolines from 27 cities around the U.S. The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 provide a framework for gasoline which includes reformulated, conventional and oxygenated gasoline. Each of these has characteristics that were seen in data from some of the 27 cities. Reformulated gasoline has a benzene content that is less than 5% and from 1995 to 2006 contained 2% oxygen by weight. Several states began banning methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in 2000, causing a shift to ethanol to meet the oxygen requirement. Conventional gasoline had benzene limits set by producer baselines and has had average contents higher than 3% in some cities. The Mobile Source Air Toxics Rule of 2007 limited benzene, nationwide to 0.62% in the beginning of 2011. MTBE and ethanol use varied among in conventional gasoline as both can be used as octane boosters. Oxygenated gasoline contains an oxygenated additive in winter months, which clearly established seasonal patterns in cities implementing this program.