What does “renewable” fuel/oxygenate mean?
The general definition of “renewable” is that the carbon originates from recent biomass, and thus does not contribute to the increased CO2 emissions. A truly “long-term” view could claim that fossil fuels are “renewable” on a 100 million year timescale :-). There is currently a major battle between the ethanol/ETBE lobby ( agricultural, corn growing ), and the methanol/MTBE lobby ( oil company, petrochemical ) over an EPA mandate demanding that a specific percentage of the oxygenates in gasoline are produced from “renewable” sources [57]. Unfortunately, “renewable” ethanol is not cost competitive when crude oil is $18/bbl, so a federal subsidy ( $0.54/US Gallon ) and additional state subsidies ( 11 states – from $0.08(Michigan) to $0.66(Tenn.)/US Gal.) are provided. A judgement on the use of “renewable” oxygenates is expected in early 1995.
