USGC promoting US ethanol for Mexico’s energy policy reforms

As Mexico works to implement energy reforms, the US Grains Council (USGC) is working to educate end-users and energy policymakers on the advantages of using ethanol as an oxygenate in fuel.

Last year, Pemex, Mexico’s state-owned oil company, announced its plan to introduce a first-ever pilot programme to blend petrol with ethanol.

Since then, it has awarded a few contracts to local ethanol plants, but the relatively small-scale Mexican ethanol industry makes imports seem necessary to meet the country’s immediate fuel ethanol blending needs.

This will likely create new opportunities for US exports of ethanol to the market, USGC said in a statement.

“We are meeting with a wide range of stakeholders here in Mexico to start conversations and answer basic questions on ethanol specifications and blending, which will help generate interest in the renewable fuel,” said USGC director in Mexico Ryan LeGrand.

“We’ve been asked about vehicle performance at varying levels of ethanol blends, how importation and transportation of ethanol works and how a policy change could impact agriculture in Mexico. Being able to provide information on these topics will help local industry figure out their future energy strategy, which hopefully includes US ethanol,” he continued

“We also are providing anecdotal success stories from other overseas markets,” LeGrand said. “This allows our policymakers to see what other importers around the globe have successfully done to create a renewable energy matrix.”