…One of the advantages of ethanol to petrol is reduction of emissions
-Felix Douglas
The Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN), held its Competency Centre E10 Workshop webinar as part of its programme to educate the public on its roles for the downstream and midstream sectors.
The objective of the Technical Workshop is to fill necessary capabilities and positive framework to facilitate successful integration of ethanol into Nigeria’s energy and transport sectors.
In his Welcome address, Chairman of MEMAN and Managing Director of NNPC Retail Services, Mr. Huub Stokman, said the event gives way forward how Nigeria can use biofuels in the future which is possible. “The key issue is how will it be done perfectly and many countries have gone before Nigeria in the use of biofuels.”
He said the country can learn from other countries experiences. Biofuels are used in other countries around the world. Many countries adopted ethanol as consumer fuels; it can reduce emissions, poor quality and reduce production cost.
Stokman added that local production of ingredients of ethanol can also promote agricultural development. MEMAN companies are also involved in projects that could be used for ethanol production.
He spoke on the Dangote Refinery which has the capability of injecting ethanol into its products.
Speaking in her keynote address, Professor Zainab Gobir, Executive Director of Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) also known as the Authority, explained that one of its objectives is to promote health, safety and efficient conduct in the midstream and downstream sectors.
NMDPRA commences the development of guidelines and regulations in preparations to use various blends of biofuels into the Nigerian market.
Also a research and development initiative has commenced by the Authority in partnership with Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF). In addition, it has started the development of intern pilot project and once it is completed the Authority will soon roll out holistic information on the initiative.
It started with several institutions with MEMAN being a major contributor, US Grains, NNPC and others.
Professor Gobir said ethanol is being used around the world including Europe, US and Australia. C02 is one of the Green Houses that contribute to climate change and main benefit of ethanol petrol reduces level of C02 based vehicle emission and helps reduction to meet climate change target. Reduction in the retail outlets significantly cuts transport C02 by up to 750 times per year which makes the environment safe.
The use of ethanol is safe at a time when many Nigerians are worried about health issues and vehicles will be compatible with e-temperature.
The Authority is working assiduously to roll specific information about compatible car plant with C02 friendly in Nigeria. “Ethanol production should also be sustainable sourced to avoid sensitive issues affecting security and prices.”
“The Authority is committed to working with Ministry of Agriculture to ensure that all relevant factors are considered in our ongoing regulation development.”
Ethanol adoption and use in the country is key including trade policy development in the country.
Rowena Torres-Ordonez is a Global Ethanol Technical Consultant and Advisor for US Grains Council. She provides technical and regulatory expertise on ethanol specifications and other technical issues to advance the development of export markets for US ethanol.
Rowena made it known that ethanol is a component of petrol in the United States since 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the mandate by the government for emission reduction programs first with a 10% maximum content and in mid 2000 it moved away from 40% requirement to a total ethanol volume requirement. It was instituted by the government with a renewable fuel standard.
In 2011, the volume of ethanol was approved for use in 2001 in newer vehicles but today practically all gasoline in US is Eaton. Another country which is using ethanol for quite a while is Brazil.
Fuel Standard and Specification
Rowena made it known that specification refers to properties and governed by standard. Ethanol use may require modifications of existing petrol specifications. Certain properties of ethanol can impact the properties of final petrol and ethanol blend.
Specification provides fuel for majority of the country’s vehicles and technology sets in proper requirement for the fuel.
Rowena posited that another reason for having fuel standard is that it enables possible fuel purchasing agreement. It also standardises minimum fuel requirement which can enable sourcing supply at lowest cost. Fuel standard also provide technical information such as descriptions and relevance of the fuel properties.
Fuel standard allows a country to pursue objective such as reducing pollutions, reaching climate change goals such as the Paris Accord Agreement and achieving energy security.
From ethanol procurement perspective, in addition to technical standard, there could be specification or requirement to ethanol industry agreement.
For example, there maybe specification reference in order to obtain advantage of tax and subsidy status.
Setting and development of standard
According to Rowena, government enforces a country’s standard and specifications for fuel. Some countries have individual’s standard for only petrol and ethanol while others have in addition standard for petrol ethanol plants.
There are three common ways of protocols for standard setting: one is to adopt international fuel standard development organisation such as ASTM international formerly known as America Society for Testing and Materials. This group develops and publishes technical standards that have been arrived at by consensus.
The standard covers a wide range of materials and products, including fuels as well as systems. The second protocol is to develop a fuel standard specification that is customized for a country’s specific needs. The third protocol is a combination of the first two. Most countries standards are based on either the United States, which uses ASTM standard, or the European Union which uses EN standards.
The standards for two materials that are to be blended should be aligned for the case of petrol and ethanol. The specification is ASTM 4806 which is the standard for ethanol. They are tailored to work with the specification in ASTM, 4814, which is the standard for petrol.
It is important to note that in addition to vehicles, these standards may need to be usable for other spark ignition engines such as motorcycles, lawn mowers, generators and boats.
Rowena revealed further that Nigeria’s specifications seem to be aligned with EN standards than ASTM. The country has a combination of distillation specifications that are taken from ASTM and EN.
There are no much differences in the standards but Nigeria has a combination of distillation specifications that are taken from ASTM and EN. Differences maybe in the concentrations of benzene.
Meanwhile, the most widely acceptable industry standard for ethanol is the ASTM 4806 specification. It is the properties that are controlled. One thing to note is that the properties of ethanol and its octane is higher than gasoline. When ethanol is added to petrol, the resulting blend has an octane rating which is higher than gasoline. It is an advantage because a higher octane has better resistant to knock.
One of the advantages of adding ethanol to petrol is because it reduces emissions; it is a pure compound that has no impurities.
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