USA says 'Not Yet' to 15% Ethanol Fuel

4:49 AM Wed 2 Dec 2009 GMT

'No to E15 - until mid 2010' .

After receiving what they acknowledge as 'widespread concerns' about the idea of allowing up to 15% ethanol into fuel, the USA's Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced it will delay a final decision of Growth Energy's waiver petition to allow the higher percentage until more testing is available, with another announcement mid-2010.

In a letter sent on 1st December to Growth Energy - a bio fuels industry association that had asked EPA to grant a waiver that would allow for the use of up to 15 percent of ethanol in gasoline - the agency said that while not all tests have been completed, the results of two tests indicate that engines in newer cars likely can handle an ethanol blend higher than the current 10-percent limit. The agency will decide whether to raise the blending limit when more testing data is available. EPA also announced that it has begun the process to craft the labeling requirements that will be necessary if the blending limit is raised.

The National Maritime Manufacturers Association (NMMA) and other marine representative organisations had long called for more testing given the serious concerns about the potential impacts of mid-level ethanol blends on recreational marine engines and boats, including increased air emissions, performance and durability issues, as well as warranty concerns.

No recreational marine engines, fuel systems or boats are currently designed, calibrated, certified or warranted to run on any fuel with more than 10 percent ethanol.

It is worth noting that the EPA has not conducted any studies on marine engines and a wide array of other non-road engines, as is required by law.

However, there is still more lobbying to be done by the marine industry, as E15 could be approved by the EPA by mid-2010 unless problems are revealed. While they would only be approved for vehicles newer than 2001 manufacture, marine representative organisations believe that their very availability may lead to misfueling, which could in turn lead to a myriad of other issues.

To read the EPA announcement open letter, click OpenDocument

by Sail-World Cruising

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