EXCERPT FROM PREFACE
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...Aside from the fact that it is a means of providing transportation,
the average purchaser knows little to nothing about [gasoline's] composition,
its effect upon the environment, its pharmacological or toxicological
impact upon man and, equally as important in the long run, its finite
availability.
Efforts to minimize the impact of each of these areas have sporadically
surfaced and, in certain instances, reforms have been initiated. Notable
among those with lasting effect are the efforts of the Environmental Protection
Agency to eliminate the use of organometallic lead as an octane enhancer.
Not all the side effects of this reduction have been positive.
Substantial changes in the composition of gasoline blends have mandated
upstream changes to the basic automobile engine, its compression ratio,
the cleanliness or completeness of the burn, and the inclusion of exhaust
gas modifiers (catalytic converters). Most changes were occasioned by
the increase in volatility or vapor pressure, the doubling of the amount
of aromatics, the increased use of oxygenates (alcohols and ethers) and
the increase in olefins and diolefins.
The efforts of Dr. William Scheller, University of Nebraska at Lincoln,
in taking the lead in the modern development of alcohol blended fuels,
will probably have a longer lasting beneficial effect upon our environment,
due to the elimination of environmentally degrading components from the
base stock and the inclusion of ethanol with its resultant octane enhancement,
than will any other single activity. The inclusion of a renewable extender
to our finite fuel supply, even as little as 10%, will have long term
dramatic effects upon the environment, mankind and the future availability
of reasonably priced fuel.
This project, entitled “Expansion of Petroleum Products Quality
Assurance Testing to Include Biomass Derived Fuel Additives and Blends,”
has identified the need for the constant monitoring of such a complex
blend as contemporary gasoline. Money was provided by Exxon overcharge
funds, which were disbursed by the Department of Business and Economic
Development. The mandatory inclusion of oxygenates, with upper and lower
limits, must be considered essential.
We should get on with it!
George E. Mattimoe
October 20, 1989
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