UK to introduce E10 gasoline in September

The UK government will introduce E10 gasoline — which contains up to 10pc bioethanol — as the standard grade in September, it said today.

The UK's current standard — E5, which contains up to 5pc bioethanol — will remain available as a higher-octane "super" grade, as it is still required for some vehicles and equipment. The introduction of E10 could cut CO2 emissions from the UK's transport sector by 750,000 t/yr, which is the equivalent of taking 350,000 cars off the road, the government said.

Using E10 in place of E5 reduces the net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of a gasoline vehicle by around 2pc. E10 is already available in several countries in Europe, including France, Germany, Austria, Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Lithuania, Slovakia and the Netherlands. It is also offered to consumers in the US, Brazil and Australia.

The UK Petroleum Industry Association (UKPIA) welcomed the decision as a "practical step that increases renewable fuel use in the UK now", and added that it is looking forward to the government's consultation on updating the UK's Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) "to take further steps to deploy renewable fuels". Meanwhile, the UK's National Farmers Union (NFU) also welcomed the mandate, which it said will "provide a boost for the UK wheat and sugar sectors".

Vivergo to restart

On the back of the E10 mandate, UK ethanol producer Vivergo said its plans to restart production from its 330,000 t/yr ethanol plant in Hull in the north of England in early 2022. The plant — which was the second-largest producer of ethanol in Europe when it was operational — has been mothballed since September 2018. The focus now is on getting it ready to start up, Vivergo's parent company AB Sugar told Argus. The restart will help to "unleash the potential of the £1bn British bioethanol industry", the firm said.

Traded E10 volumes in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA) gasoline barge market have been steadily rising since Argus moved to a volume-weighted average assessment following the Netherlands' introduction of the grade in late 2019. Argus-assessed non-oxy gasoline volumes rose by 46pc on the year to hit a record high of 1.05mn t in 2020, despite the Covid-19 pandemic cutting demand substantially.

The government's consultation on introducing E10 closed in May last year. It received 208 responses.

By Georgia Gratton