Three German representatives in the European Parliament have made an official appeal to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, asking for an accelerated procedure for authorising the new E20 fuel standard. According to a report in the German newspaper Bild, the initiators Peter Lise, Jens Giesecke and Norbert Lins from the Christian Democratic Union are pushing for a legal change that would allow a doubling of the bioethanol content in mainstream petrol.
The main motive behind the parliamentary petition is the search for a quick way to reduce Europe's energy dependence on imported fossil fuels and to control final prices at petrol stations. Currently, current European Union regulations limit the mainstream market standard to E10 fuel, which contains a maximum of 10 percent renewable ethanol. Switching to E20 would increase this biocomponent share to 20 percent, which, according to the proponents of the proposal, is an immediate step towards decarbonization without the need to build a new refueling infrastructure.
Despite promises of a cheaper liter at the pump, the economic effect on drivers' pockets remains a controversial topic among industry experts. Since ethanol has a lower calorific value and energy density compared to standard gasoline fractions, car engines require a slightly larger amount to cover the same distance. Analyses show that fuel consumption when switching to E20 increases by approximately 3 percent, which can practically neutralize the savings from the lower price of the liter itself.
On the other hand, the introduction of such a mixture is not new on a global scale. Countries with developed agriculture and bioprocessing industries such as Brazil, India and Thailand have been using E20 or even higher concentrations of ethanol in their domestic consumption for years. It remains to be seen whether Brussels will review European fuel quality standards and how automakers will respond regarding the compatibility of older engines with the new blend.