The study, which outlines an extensive economic and environmental analysis of increasing biofuel blends, said biofuel blends are crucial for EU states to meet their GHG reduction obligations.
While most EU member states have E5 blends, the report mentions the potential of increasing blending rates and found E20 to be the most optimal blend in terms of infrastructure adaptation and GHG emission goals.
Surprisingly, the report said oil companies agree: “The oil companies thus conclude that if ethanol blends are to increase, it appears to be that E20 strikes the right balance against increased infrastructure costs.”
In fact, the report mentioned that “as of 2011, the majority of the petrol cars made in the EU are already E20 tolerant. This means that even if vehicles have been type approved and fully compatible for lower blends, no safety or technical issues will occur if the higher blend is used.”
The report found reduced tailpipe emissions for vehicles using E20. It should be noted that those vehicles did not undergo modifications to be optimized for E20.
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It was also confirmed that splash blending of E20 from an E5 base will reduce RVP.
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The study did add that engines optimized to run on E20 and take advantage of ethanol’s higher octane would further reduce emissions. As future vehicles are expected to be equipped with turbocharged engines or high compression ratios, ethanol’s inherent octane properties are well situated to provide engine efficiency benefits.
“In the case of ethanol blends, hardware and/or software changes have been incorporated into the vehicle to achieve the fuel efficiency benefit of the biofuel blend. For example, in the case of E20 rated at 100+RON (95 AKI), this could result in fuel efficiency gains between 3 percent and 6.4 percent...The increased RON of the E20 blend can be used to increase the compression ratio of the engine or the boost level of the turbo, which in turn can enhance fuel efficiency,” it said.
The study mentioned the costs of optimization will be small for naturally aspirated engines and turbocharged engines, if the changes are incorporated in the design stage.
It reported that manufacturers recommend creating a new high octane fuel that takes advantage of ethanol’s octane value in future vehicle designs.
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The fuel could result in positive benefits for regulated pollutants (20 percent lower CO, 20-30 percent lower PM, 1-7 percent lower CO2) and toxic emissions (lower benzene). READ MORE
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