About E10 fuel
E10 is a low-carbon renewable transport fuel consisting of regular unleaded petrol blended with 10% bioethanol. Currently all UK petrol (both regular and premium) is blended with up to 5% bioethanol (E5). Doubling the current blend from E5 to E10 would be the emissions equivalent of removing 700,000 cars off UK roads - that's a traffic jam from Manchester to Moscow!
E10 is used widely throughout Europe, North America and Australasia, and in many countries there are higher blends available such as E85 in USA and Brazil. However, it is not yet available in the UK and proposals to introduce it have been repeatedly delayed, missing the opportunity to address pressing environmental issues and meet our binding renewables targets.
E10 represents the fastest, most cost-effective and easiest step for the UK to help de-carbonise transport, improve air quality and meet our commitments both internationally and to the UK's own Climate Change Act.
Whilst other technologies such as electric vehicles may play an increasingly important role in the long term, E10 can play this role immediately. Whilst other solutions rely on a shift in consumer choice and behaviour, E10 does not. Since March 2016 E10 has been the optimum reference fuel for all new cars, meaning that those cars run sub-optimally without it. By 2020 more than 99% of vehicles on the road will be warrantied for E10 use (with even more compatible), with the remainder tending to be classic cars which use premium fuel - this premium petrol will be unchanged.
Without the important regulatory progress of introducing E10, the UK could be forgoing an opportunity to immediately and significantly reduce transport emissions and deliver benefits to motorists as well as fuelling economic growth for years to come.
E10 Petrol, Consumer Protection and Fuel Labelling
The Department for Transport published a consultation on “E10 petrol, consumer protection and fuel labelling”, which ran from 20 July to 16 September 2018. The response to this consultation is still to be published.
We urge the Government to publish the response as soon as possible. The introduction of E10 petrol is long overdue and we hope the Government takes due note of industries concerns that the proposals the Government made particularly relating to a protection grade could substantially impede a successful E10 introduction and roll out.