China to implement methanol gasoline standard from December

08 July 2009 08:20  [Source: ICIS news]

GUANGZHOU (ICIS news)--China will implement a national standard for the M85 blend of methanol gasoline for motor vehicles from 1 December of this year, according to the latest bulletin published by the Standardization Administration.

Such a standard would legalise methanol gasoline and specify requirements for the blended fuel's market access, said Ma Liang, vice secretary-general of the China Association of Alcohol and Ether Clean Fuels and Automobiles.

The M85 blended fuel contains 85% methanol and 15% gasoline.

Cars using the hybrid fuel would need to modify their engines for adaptation, and additional policies would be necessary for its wider application, Ma added.

He suggested the government should provide tax breaks and subsidise engine modifications.

"It’s hoped that the government could exempt some of the consumption tax on methanol fuel, which is around yuan (CNY) 1.0/litre ($0.15/litre) at present," Ma said.

He also said that the national standard for M15 (15% methanol and 85% gasoline) would not be implemented this year and no schedule was fixed for it.

"M15 application doesn’t need refitting [of] motor engines and we have to be more prudent on it to avoid malpractice," Ma said.

($1 = CNY6.83)

Gao Jun from CBI contributed to this story

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