Regulation of Fuels and Fuel Additives: Renewable Fuel Standard ...

3. Current Ethanol and MTBE Consumption
To understand the impact of the increased ethanol production/use on gasoline
properties and in turn overall air quality, we first need to gain a better understanding of
where ethanol is used today and how the picture is going to change in the future. As
such, in addition to the production analysis presented above, we have completed a
parallel consumption analysis comparing current ethanol consumption to future
predictions.
In the 2004 base case, 3.5 billion gallons of ethanol 42 and 1.9 billion gallons of
MTBE 43 were blended into gasoline to supply the transportation sector with a total of 136
billion gallons of gasoline 44 . A breakdown of the 2004 gasoline and oxygenate
consumption by PADD is found below in Table VI-A.3-1.
Table VI.A.3-1
2004 U.S. Gasoline & Oxygenate Consumption by PADD
PADD MMgal % MMgal %
PADD 1 49,193 660 1.34% 1,360 2.76%
PADD 2 38,789 1,616 4.17% 1 0.00%
PADD 3 20,615 79 0.38% 498 2.42%
PADD 4 4,542 83 1.83% 0 0.00%
PADD 5 b
Ethanol MTBE
7,918 209 2.63% 19 0.23%
California 14,836 853 5.75% 0 0.00%
Total 135,893 3,500 2.58% 1,878 1.38%
a
Gasoline
MMgal
a
MTBE blended into RFG
b
PADD 5 excluding California
As shown above, nearly half (or about 45 percent) of the ethanol was consumed in
PADD 2 gasoline, not surprisingly, where the majority of ethanol was produced. The
next highest region of use was the State of California which accounted for about 25
percent of domestic ethanol consumption. This is reasonable because California alone
accounts for over 10 percent of the nation’s total gasoline consumption and all the fuel
(both Federal RFG and California Phase 3 RFG) has been assumed to contain ethanol
(following their recent MTBE ban) at 5.7 volume percent. 45 The bulk of the remaining
ethanol was used in reformulated gasoline (RFG) and winter oxy-fuel areas requiring
oxygenated gasoline. Overall, 62 percent of ethanol was used in RFG, 33 percent was
used in CG, and 5 percent was used in winter oxy-fuel. 46
42 EIA Monthly Energy Review, June 2006 (Table 10.1: Renewable Energy Consumption by Source,
Appendix A: Thermal Conversion Factors).
43 File containing historical RFG MTBE usage obtained from EIA representative on March 9, 2006
44 EIA 2004 Petroleum Marketing Annually (Table 48: Prime Supplier Sales Volumes of Motor Gasoline
by Grade, Formulation, PAD District, and State).
45 Based on conversation with Dean Simeroth at California Air Resources Board (CARB).
46 For the purpose of this analysis, except where noted, the term “RFG” pertains to Federal RFG plus
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