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Assessment of Mexico’s program to use ethanol as transportation fuel: impact of 6% ethanol-blended fuel on emissions of light-duty gasoline vehicles

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Abstract

Recently, the Mexican government launched a national program encouraging the blending of renewable fuels in engine fuel. To aid the assessment of the environmental consequences of this move, the effect of gasoline fuel additives, ethanol and methyl tert-butyl ether, on the tailpipe and the evaporative emissions of Mexico sold cars was investigated. Regulated exhaust and evaporative emissions, such as carbon monoxide, non-methane hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides, and 15 unregulated emissions were measured under various conditions on a set of 2005–2008 model light-duty vehicles selected based on sales statistics for the Mexico City metropolitan area provided by car manufacturers. The selected car brands are also frequent in Canada, the USA, and other parts of the world. This paper provides details and results of the experiment that are essential for evaluation of changes in the emission inventory, originating in the low-blend ethanol addition in light vehicle fuel.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Mexicano del Petróleo, Dirección de Seguridad y Medio Ambiente, Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas No. 152, San Bartolo Atepehuacan, Mexico, Distrito Federal, 07730, Mexico

    Isaac Schifter, Luis Díaz, Rene Rodríguez & Lucia Salazar

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  1. Isaac Schifter
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  2. Luis Díaz
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  3. Rene Rodríguez
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  4. Lucia Salazar
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Correspondence to Isaac Schifter.

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Schifter, I., Díaz, L., Rodríguez, R. et al. Assessment of Mexico’s program to use ethanol as transportation fuel: impact of 6% ethanol-blended fuel on emissions of light-duty gasoline vehicles. Environ Monit Assess 173, 343–360 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-010-1391-x

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