The American Coalition for Ethanol is asking Underwriters Laboratories (UL) to explain why they’ve arbitrarily changed their position on the ability of gas pumps to handle ethanol blends up to 15 percent.
The letter, written February 5 to August Schaefer, UL’s Senior VP & COO, said: “I am writing to express ACE’s concern that Underwriters Laboratories has recently made what appears to be an arbitrary change to the ‘UL 87’ standard. That standard, which has been relied upon by the ethanol industry, pump manufacturers, and many petroleum marketers, has consistently been interpreted as allowing the use of up to 15 percent ethanol in standard gasoline dispensing equipment. Recent statements by UL that have changed the meaning of the standard without any accompanying change in data, coupled with similar action by UL two-and-a-half years ago regarding E85, have caused many within the ethanol industry to question whether UL – an organization built on a reputation of precision and impartiality – has at very least treated ethanol issues with carelessness and at times appears to have an anti-ethanol bias.”
The letter points out that, even though the UL 87 standard does not specifically mention E10 or E15, it refers to underlying standards that employ such clear phrases as “ethanol does not exceed 15 percent” and “approved for gasoline/ethanol blends up to 15 percent ethanol” and “gasoline with up to 15 percent ethanol.”
The letter concludes: “If there is existing data that suggests this is not the case, it should have been presented in UL’s joint statement with the U.S. Department of Energy in December 2008. Barring that, UL should stand by its clear, consistent statements that pumps with the UL label are approved for blends up to 15 percent ethanol.”
Read ACE's letter here: http://www.ethanol.org/pdf/contentmgmt/ACE_e15_letter_to_UL_2409-1.pdf
Posted by RL, 2/10/09