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Growth Energy heralds opportunity for ethanol industry after publication of new standard

US trade body Growth Energy has praised a new ASTM standard and said it is a “major victory for the ethanol industry”.

Last week, ASTM International published an important new high-octane fuel standard, ASTM D8076 – 17, Standard Specification for 100 Research Octane Number Test Fuel for Automotive Spark-Ignition Engines.

This new specification intends to describe and align the fuel properties needed to enable high compression ratio, turbocharged boosted engines that will utilise fuels with up to 50% ethanol.

The trade body said that this new standard was a “major victory for the ethanol industry”.

‘Powerful octane boost’

Commenting about the new specification, Growth Energy CEO Emily Skor, said: “A significant milestone and high priority Growth Energy effort was achieved at ASTM last week – the first publication of a high-octane fuel specification to support the development of new engine technologies that can harness ethanol’s powerful octane boost while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“One of Growth Energy’s primary goals is to facilitate the expansion of higher ethanol blends in markets across the United States, and this new specification is a great sign for what’s to come with higher blends. Moving forward, optimizing engines to use up to 50 percent ethanol will be a victory for engine performance, the environment, and the American consumer.

“The ASTM process is rigorous and requires the review and approval of premier automotive and fuel experts from around the globe, so it is very common for new standards and specifications to take up to five years to be fully developed and reach publication status.

“Specification D8076 went from concept to completion in record time at ASTM due to the tremendous partnership among the automotive, agriculture, and ethanol industries. I also want to give a special thanks to Dr. Robert McCormick of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, for leading the effort to get this standard published.”

ASTM International is a leader in the development and delivery of voluntary consensus standards. Today, more than 12,000 ASTM standards are used around the world to improve product quality, enhance health and safety, strengthen market access and trade, and build consumer confidence.

 This story was written by Liz Gyekye, editor of Biofuels International.





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