CLEAN FUEL COMPONENTS IN EUROPE AFTER THE MTBE BAN IN CALIFORNIA

摘要

1. Clean fuel components are INDISPENSABLE to produce gasoline to European specifications. 2. The most common clean fuel component opted for today is MTBE. 3. There is not an MTBE emergency in Europe today because the situation is very different from the USA. 4. It is therefore probable that MTBE will not be banned in Europe. 5. If this is the case, in the years to come MTBE will continue to be the chosen clean fuel component; imports will increase by 700,000 tons/year even if there will be limited conversion of production from MTBE to ETBE. 6. However, if the European Union bans MTBE there are two possible alternatives: alkylate or iso-octane. In any case replacement is not zero cost but costs will be involved that someone will have to bear.