fuels and petrochemicals industry reacts tothe MTBE phase-out, The

Chemical Engineering Progress, Sep 1999

The Fuels and Petrochemicals Industry Reacts to the MTBE Phase-Out

In a move that impacts AIChE members who work in the fuels and petrochemicals industry, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently revised its stance concerning the gasoline additive MTBE. MTBE is one of many additives used to create cleaner burning fuel that mitigates damage to the environment.

On July 27th, the EPA acted on concerns raised by its "Blue Ribbon Panel" advisory committee on oxygenates and gasoline. The concerns centered around the possibility that MTBE may have deleterious effects on drinking water. The EPA's recommendation is that the use of the additive be gradually reduced to far below its current levels in light of the fact that MTBE has been leaking into water supplies out of underground storage facilities and pipes in various parts of the U.S.

MTBE has been conclusively shown to reduce air pollution. In California, the reduction in air pollution that resulted from MTBE use was equivalent to removing 4 million cars from the street. However, California has also seen its water supplies in Santa Clara and Santa Monica contaminated. Governor Gray Davis has imposed a ban on the additive that will take effect in the year 2003. Maine has dropped out of the federal government's reformulated gasoline program because of concerns over the additive.

EPA Administrator Carol Browner stated that the EPA "must begin to significantly reduce the use of MTBE in gasoline as quickly as possible without sacrificing the gains we've made in achieving cleaner air." This statement indicates that the primary challenge to the fuels and petrochemicals industry will be to find economically viable alternatives to the additive. Some in the petroleum industry have claimed that a rise in gasoline prices could occur, as much of the fuel that the United States imports from Europe and the Middle East also contains the additive.

There are already several possible alternatives to MTBE. Sue Zillman, a spokesperson for UOP, spoke to AlChExtra about a couple of possible alternatives:

Ethanol-"Ethanol would be the most obvious replacement. It is already used in the Midwest. The problem with ethanol is that there is not enough of a supply for use in some states, such as in California."

Chemicals related to MTBE"These would include ETBE, for instance. The biggest problem with these is that they will be seen as related to MTBE and may raise some of the same environmental flags."

As to the impact on the industry, Zillman said that "chemical engineers will be most interested in figuring out how to convert their facilities to make chemicals that can be used. There might be some impact on the industry as money is invested to convert facilities for the production of other types of chemicals. However, it should be noted that, except for California, the chemical has not been banned outright. So the complete impact of the EPA's statement is hard to gauge, as MTBE will probably still be used to some degree in the upcoming years."

The American Petroleum Institute has stated that they are supportive of the EPA in this matter given that any mandated reduction of MTBE use "be conditioned on the repeal of the federal oxygenate mandate, and on the allowance of enough time for refiners and markets to assure an orderly transition." The Blue Ribbon panel recommended that the mandate be repealed in their recommendations to the EPA.