resource

Latin America

Mexico

Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). Mexican Official Standard NOM-016-CRE-2016, on fuel quality specifications | LINK

  • CRE published NOM-016, allowing the use of ethanol at 6 percent (E6) as an oxygenate in gasoline blends only in the rest of the country (RdP), excluding the three metropolitan areas of Valle de México, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP). Presentation: Assessment of reformulated gasolines in Mexico according to the US EPA specifications | PDF

  • IMP experts warned that exceeding the specified vapor pressure by 1 psi when using gasoline blends with 10 percent ethanol, could increase evaporative VOC emissions by 19 percent.

Ministry of Energy (SENER). Letter to the IMP on ethanol blends concerns | PDF

  • SENER sent a letter to the IMP cautioning about the negative effects from allowing gasoline blends with 10 percent ethanol in the rest of the country. Volatility (RVP) limits should be maintained also.

Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP). Presentation: Specification of oxygen content and oxygenated compounds in gasolines |PDF

  • The IMP insisted that the volatility (vapor pressure) specifications of NOM-016 should be maintained if the volume of ethanol in gasoline increased from 5.8 to 10 percent.

Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE). Amendments to NOM-016-CRE-2016, on fuel quality specifications | LINK

  • CRE unanimously approved amendments to NOM-016, increasing the proportion of ethanol from 5.8 percent to 10 percent (E10) as an oxygenate in fuel blends in the rest of the country. In addition, an additional 1 psi is allowed of vapor pressure (RVP) to E10 blends. The three metropolitan areas continue to be unable to use E10 under the precautionary principle.

  • In response, the government’s environmental and energy agencies questioned the amendments before the Mexican Agency for Regulatory Efficiency (CONAMER) website

  National Institute for Ecology and Climate Change (INECC). Report: Assessment of the amendments to NOM-016-CRE-2016 | LINK

  • INECC published a report assessing the amendments to NOM-016, restating that ethanol blends would increase vapor pressure and evaporative emissions, compared to non-oxygenated fuels or MTBE blends.

National Human Rights Commission (CNDH). General Recommendation NO. 32/2018 on violations of human rights to public health, an adequate standard of living, healthy environment and public access to information caused by the urban atmospheric pollution | LINK

  • CNDH demanded that CRE and the agencies responsible for air quality in the country severely scrutinize the use of ethanol as an oxygenator in gasoline.

 Mexican Petroleum Institute (IMP). Report: E10 fuel evaluation in vehicles | LINK

  • A technical experiment carried out by the IMP, and commissioned by CRE, to evaluate the impacts of incorporating 10 percent ethanol into gasoline blends concluded that ethanol wouldn’t have an impact to air quality if:

    • RVP stayed constant. In contrast, the 2017 amendment to NOM-016 allows gasoline that uses ethanol a RVP 1 psi waiver.

    • A vehicle fleet after 2005, with an average age of 2010. In contrast, 51 percent of Mexico City vehicles are from 2006 or earlier. Only pre-2000 vehicles, according to the IMP, are responsible for 49 percent of emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

    • Base gasoline with less aromatics, olefins, sulfur and benzene – the main polluting elements that are regulated in NOM-016. The gasoline evaluated, for example, had up to 88.6 percent less sulfur than what the standard requires.

    • The results of the IMP study do not reflect the conditions neither of the vehicle fleet nor of the gasoline commonly used in critical areas, such as Mexico City, Guadalajara and Monterrey.

Brazil

Nature Geosciences. Reduction in local ozone levels in urban São Paulo due to a shift from ethanol to gasoline use | LINK

  • Results show that ambient ozone concentrations fell by about 20% as the share of bi-fuel vehicles burning gasoline rose from 14 to 76% in urban areas of Sao Paulo, Brazil.