$45B Annual Windfall for US Consumers with a Gasoline-Engine Overhaul? EPA Is Getting a Patent Worth Knowing about

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the US Patent & Trademark Office has just issued a “notice of allowance” for a patent by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for a high efficiency, high compression engine that would reduce the cost per mile for the American driver by 26.2 percent, compared to using straight gasoline and a conventional engine.

That would create a savings of $45.79 billion per year for US drivers compared to using conventional fuels and engines, according to the Digest’s analysis of fuel economy, gas prices and miles driven.

Overall, the savings is 13.5 percent compared to current US spending, because drivers are already reducing their fuel costs by 14.66 percent through the use of 10 percent ethanol blends, which create 2% lowered fuel economy compared to E0 gasoline (“straight gasoline”) but is priced 50 cents per gallon less than E0 fuels, according to the data at E85prices.com.

The EPA researchers at the National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory found that “combined with an optimized conventional drivetrain, the efficiency gain…for E30 should yield an estimated 10% to 12% gain in fuel economy, and thus more than compensate for the approximately 8% loss in fuel energy density compared to gasoline.”

So, the R&D began with a goal of “focusing on alcohol-gasoline blends in the range of 10% to 50% alcohol content, in which startup emissions can be addressed effectively with conventional oxidation catalysts,” and they found that “High efficiency was demonstrated with fuel blends down to 30% alcohol content. Such fuels may present a more economical and efficient means of utilizing alcohol fuels, and provide a path toward their more widespread, long-term use.”

So, why is high-compression tempting for engine designers? Well, higher compression means more work efficiency — the fuel’s energy is channeled more efficiently into moving the vehicle down the road. That’s why you get the fuel economy with diesel, that’s why it matters. And, that’s where the properties of alcohols really shine.

“With E30, auto-ignition is avoided, despite the high compression ratio, through the use of a dilute combustion mixture with reduced intake oxygen concentration (e.g., using substantial EGR), reduction of the final compression temperature (T.sub.2) of the fuel/air mixture (through cooling of the intake air and latent cooling caused by vaporization of the alcohol fuel, e.g., during the compression stroke), through the use of a compact combustion chamber to reduce the distance of flame travel, and by retarding the spark timing sufficiently to avoid knocking while having sufficient spark authority to maintain efficient combustion phasing.”

That’s getting technical; if you’re still hungry for more hard data and a dive into the weeds, you are definitely a Gear-Head (wear your badge with pride), and you can do your reverse 4½ in pike position into all the technical goo right here and here and here.

1. E30 engines allow for higher engine compression without the negative consequences, and you get 26.2% better fuel economy on a cost-per-mile basis.

2. Yep, that takes into account engine efficiency, fuel energy content and price.

3. Nope, you can’t buy a vehicle with that engine design today. The USPTO is just in the process of issuing the patent — we’ll have to see who licenses, and develops an engine.

4. But yep, that $46 billion in annual savings for consumers is not a made-up number, it’s the real outcome of deploying that fuel and that engine across the US gasoline-powered fleet. If diesel-based drivers crossed back over to gasoline-based engines, or electric drivers traded in to get that kind of savings and environmental performance, the savings to the US economy will be higher.

5. It’s all subject to fuel prices, of course, but given that they are at very low price levels right now, the savings would be even higher.

6. What can you do to get these engines into the market? Talk them up, ask about them.

Someone has to make the car, approve the pathway and blend the fuel. READ MORE and MORE (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)

Excerpt from Environmental and Energy Study Institute: On the fuels side, EPA has been fighting E30 blends for several years because the agency has contended that there are no vehicles capable of utilizing the blends. The auto industry won’t design a car for a fuel that’s on the road, and the EPA won’t certify a fuel that isn’t commercially available. While it’s unlikely that the patent will end the logjam – it is a surprising twist in the road to the next generation of engines.

In 2015, the agency was sued by a coalition of ethanol groups for not including E30 as a certification fuel in air quality tests. The suit was part of efforts to have the agency approve E30 for commercial use. While the suit was thrown out by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals for lack of standing, the judge noted that the ethanol “petitioners have standing to challenge the legality of the test fuel regulation.” READ MORE