Octane Overconfidence
by Ron Lamberty (American Coalition for Ethanol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) … (W)hy oil refiners wouldn’t use ethanol as a source of octane, under a high-octane fuel standard, without an RFS or RINs. — … Ethanol is the best and cheapest source of octane today, just as it was when automakers needed octane almost 100 years ago (in the 1920s) and identified ethanol as the best choice. Then oil companies chose tetraethyl lead (TEL). Not because it was cheaper or better than ethanol—they used TEL because it was theirs. Ethanol was the better and less harmful choice as an oxygenate when the oxygen standard was the law of the land, but oil companies used methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) instead. Not because it was cheaper or better than ethanol—they used MTBE because it was theirs.
Before they found a willing accomplice at EPA to let them weasel their way out of RFS requirements, some oil refiners were paying a dollar or more for RINs, which essentially allowed them to not buy an octane booster for 50 cents less than the gas they make. They don’t want to buy ethanol because they don’t make it. As far as oil companies are concerned, the entire fuel market should be theirs. If there were a high-octane standard with no RFS and no RINs, what makes anyone think refiners would use ethanol octane instead of their octane? READ MORE
