EPA Switches Test Fuel to E10

STREATOR, Ill. (DTN) -- The Environmental Protection Agency switched its test fuel from the proposed E15, gasoline blended with 15% ethanol, to E10 as the certification fuel for new emissions standards to be in force by 2017.

The new Tier 3 standard announced Monday reduces sulfur content in gasoline by more than 60%, from 30 parts per million to 10 ppm.

EPA said it originally considered using E15 as the test fuel for the new standard, but said E10 is the widely used fuel across the country, not E15.

"EPA proposed that the specified gasoline for emissions testing be changed from E0 to E15 as a forward-looking approach," EPA said in its final rule. "Since then, several factors have led EPA to reconsider that approach, including minimal proliferation on a national scale of stations offering E15 and the complexities that E15 would introduce for long-term harmonization with California's use of E10 in their LEVIII program."

EPA said it received comments from a broad set of stakeholders including the auto and oil industries and states with a "general consensus" that E15 "would not be appropriate as the official test fuel at this time."

"We are pleased that EPA agreed that the certification fuel should be the gasoline most commonly available and used by consumers, which is E10 and not E15 as originally proposed," said Charles Drevna, president of the American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers in a news release Monday. "Unlike E10, which constitutes more than 95% of all gasoline sold, E15 is not widely available in the market and is damaging to the majority of vehicles on the road today. EPA's decision is the right choice because there is no market for E15 for one reason; consumers don't want the fuel."

E15 waivers for vehicles model year 2001 and newer have been approved by the EPA. However, auto manufactures have said they will not warrantee vehicles fueled by E15 if manufactured before 2013.

In addition, the American Petroleum Institute hired Coordinating Research Council to perform a study issued in the spring of 2012 that showed mechanical leakdown failures with E15, with no failures reported with 100% gasoline.

The CRC is a non-profit organization that directs, engineering and environmental studies in the interaction between automotive equipment and petroleum products.

EPA said vehicle manufacturers may request approval for "an alternative certification fuel such as a high-octane 30 percent ethanol by volume blend (E30) for vehicles that may be optimized for such fuel."

EPA left the door open for E16 to E83 blends, without finalizing in-use fuel quality standards, which can be consumed by flex fuel vehicles.

"Additional work is needed on some issues that could not be accommodated within the timeline for this Tier 3 final rule," EPA said. "Therefore, we are choosing not to finalize these provisions at this time. We intend to finalize in-use fuel quality standards for E51-83 and perhaps E16-50 as well in a follow-up final rule."

Myke Feinman can be reached at myke.feinman@telventdtn.com

(BM/AG)

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