Consumers move towards E10 fuel
3 Aug, 2008
19 Comments 
Although the price of petrol has come down in the last few days, a report published by APAC Biofuel Consultants today indicates that more and more motorists are moving towards ethanol-blended fuels.
The report shows that currently the biofuel sector is supplying roughly 3000 barrels per day to the Australian transport fuel supply, just over half the 2010 target of 350 million litres per year set by the previous government.
“The number of retail outlets selling ethanol blend has increased three-fold over the past two years, concentrating in Queensland and New South Wales and to a lesser extent in South Australia and Victoria,” APAC Consultants joint chief executive officer Mike Cochran said.
Over the past 12 months, there has been a 300 per cent rise in ethanol-blended petrol sales. Even so, we must question if this increase is due to the rising cost of petrol, or the questionable environmental benefits.
“Price would be a contributor but I think people are interested in being more environmental about their fuels and also promoting an alternative source of fuel” Mr Cochran said.
E10 fuel is a 10 per cent ethanol and 90 per cent petrol mixture, currently on sale for roughly two cents less than standard petrol.
The benefits of using E10 fuel have been under scrutiny for some time, given the CO2 produced during the development cycle as well as the impact on food supplies. More on that here.
Ethanol-blended petrol is safe for most naturally-aspirated vehicles manufactured after 1985, a full list of compatible vehicles can be found here.
Location: Home / Australian Car Industry News, Fuel News / ...
Rate Post: 
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading ...
-
Print it:
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:37 pm
i’m sure a high percentage of these people who have ‘made the move’ to E10 fuel are just pulling up to the pump and filling their cars without actually taking notice of what they’re using. Not a glowing endorsement of the fuel.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Half agree brett but there are a number who may notice somewhat, the fact that its showing around 4c cheaper than regular 91ulp, people try to save a buck no matter what.
Plus as long they know their car is ethenol safe, then nothing will make them think twice…
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Ethanol blend is a waste of good food.
In Melbourne it’s 4c cheaper per litre, and you use 6c more of the fuel to go the same distance.
But some reports suggest all petrol has 2% ethanol as well.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 7:27 pm
It’s the only regular unleaded at the servo and only regular unleaded is allowed on the fuel card. Ethanol environmental ‘benefits’ are a bit worse than questionable, I’d say almost misleading in a complete cycle view of the fuel…
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Spot on Reckless one.
E10 at its current retail price is a false economy as u use more than u save.
Unfortunately I bet e10 gets put in the regular unleaded tank and is charged as such more often than not.
Petrol game is a blatant ripoff no matter which way u cut it and petrol companies favour themselves when it comes to the economics of E10 use not the consumer.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:25 pm
biofuel is a bullshit solution in it’s current form.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I think ethanol blended fuel is the way to go for a few reasons:
1. It’s cheaper.
2. It usually has a higher octane rating (~95).
3. It’s renewable.
Whilst the immediate environmental benefits may be questionable, putting more and more ethanol into our fuel is a decent short term solution as it means less oil that needs to be imported, less money going overseas, and gives us an “excuse” to run more efficient turbocharged engines.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:20 pm
If e10 has a higher octane rating then why do u use more to cover the same distance?
E10 at it’s present price is a ripoff given what I have already mentioned.
If the egg heads eventually manage to use the husk and waste to produce ethanol rather than the starchy food value part then yes then bio fuel will be an achievement.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:36 pm
the most stupid thing i see working at a petrol station is people who sit idling for 15 min waiting to buy $20 dollars of E10. good way to “save” about 40 cents… and at caltex in NSW its only 2.5c cheaper a litre anyway.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Agree Timmy another false economy.
(Report)
August 3rd, 2008 at 11:45 pm
How do we feed the world if we are going to use all our grain for petrol? This is not a long term solution surely….
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 12:13 am
Realcars - “Petrol game is a blatant ripoff no matter which way u cut it and petrol companies favour themselves when it comes to the economics of E10 use not the consumer. ”
True. but if you take a step backwards hi-prices would be a good thing too on a infrastructure and environment and health level, imagine petrol still being so cheap, there will be more cars on the road, diesel/hybrid or any future technology will be less embraced, and we’ll have ourselves with mass congestion in our capital cities, its bad enough already… but now people are opting for PT, taking more bikes to work, buying smaller cars and calling the car manufacturers to progress in the alternative power matter. People who still require petrol for their work will still buy petrol anyway, tradies/on the roaders usually cash it all back tax time anyway.
I just think the coming to the end of the petrol era is a good thing, yes it shits me as a car driver but its doing australia, its environment and society a long term favour.
As the old saying goes.. having a car is not a right, its a privilage.
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 9:27 am
REALCARS -
You nailed it, we don’t have the water to make these crops for biofuel from corn.It will effect the price of food for humans and feedstock for animals [as it has in USA]
The stock that we could use is sugar, as they do in Brazil.
Vehicle needs fairly large change and not to difficult to do it.
The future for Australia is the GovCo wasnt so BRAIN-DEAD is LPG, we have over 200 years of stock on hand without looking for any new finds.
Clean and green, no need to import
Cheers
F-0
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Ethanol has about 2/3rds the energy content of standard fuel per weight, but is slightly more dense. For E10 (10% Ethanol), this rolls into about a 3% reduction in fuel economy straight off the bat just due to energy content. At $1.50/litre, I’d expect to be paying 5c/litre less just based on this energy content only. Then work back from there as to your Enviro-value tolerance.
As an aside, I’ve often wondered why we don’t pay for petrol per kW/H, or megajoule like we do any other energy source? Paying per litre makes no sense, as energy is always based on joules-per-mass and different fuels have different mass-per-litre. If they did it would mean we always get what we pay for when it comes to dollars per kilometer, and we can discuss the benefits between differing fuels on a level playing field! And car fuel economy figures make for more easy comparison, rather than being specifically for a type of fuel? Less room for marketing depts to play if they did this, I suppose…
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Agree FO, they recently discovered a new source that have enough natural gas to power the city of Melbourne like for 20 years or something…
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
Joober Says:
August 4th, 2008 at 12:13 am
As the old saying goes.. having a car is not a right, its a privilage.
The last time I checked Joober we were living in a democracy. For the same reason having a driving licence is also a right.
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
I tried some E10 recently just out of curiosity. I purchased from my local Mobil for 2c per litre cheaper than regular unleaded…..I got 150km less out of my tank driving the same route in the same conditions at the same time of day and without changing my driving style. Rubbish!!!! My next tank was filled with Caltex Vortex 98 because I felt dirty for having tried E10.
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
Wait till theres 300million cars on Chinese roads in a few years time.
We can all live in bark huts and ride push bikes and it’s not going to make a bit of difference unfortunately.
AS much I hate the concept Nuclear Power and Hydrogen powered cars is the eventual solution if we are to save this planet.
..or move half the population to MARS!!!
(Report)
August 4th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Why aren’t we using methanol?? Its fermented from wood so that won’t hurt our food supplies at all. Although the greenies will complain about cutting down trees THAT GROW BACK.
Realcars the octane rating of E10 is 94 RON. This rating is not an indication of how dense the fuel is but how resistant to knocking the fuel is. Premium fuel is denser than regular but being denser has the added benefit of a higher octane rating. Ethanol is more resistant to knock than gasoline, so is LPG which has a rating of 102 RON i think but I know its high. I think you’ll agree LPG isn’t dense.
(Report)