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(Yicai Global) June 12 -- North China's Tianjin city plans to switch to ethanol gasoline in vehicles by October to help achieve the national strategy of improving the ecological environment and preventing air pollution. It is the first provincial level city government to announce the implementation of the strategy with a set target date.
Tianjin plans to unveil a campaign to popularize ethanol gasoline and encourage its use, the city's municipal government said on its website yesterday. With the exception of its use for the military, national and special reserves and industrial production, Tianjin aims to achieve full replacement of regular gasoline with one with added ethanol throughout the city.
China's central government last year unveiled a plan which aims the use of gasoline blended with 10 percent added ethanol across the country by the end of next year. Promoting the use of ethanol gasoline for motor vehicles is in line with the government's target to build a clean, low-carbon, safe, efficient, and modern energy system.
Before switching to ethanol gasoline, local vehicle owners in Tianjin, who need to make necessary adaptations in their vehicles, are encouraged to go to vehicle maintenance and test centers.
Ethanol gasoline can help reduce the emissions of particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and other harmful substances from motor vehicle exhaust, and improve the environment and prevent air pollution. In accordance with the government plans, authorities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas, the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta and other key areas for air pollution governance shall begin to promote the use of ethanol gasoline for vehicles from this year to achieve a full switch by the end of next year, the statement said.
Tianjin has 874 service stations in operation, with a total annual gasoline sales volume of about 2.54 million tons. According to the standard of ethanol addition, about 260,000 tons of fuel ethanol is needed each year.
Domestic producers try to increase their output to get a share in the lucrative market. China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation's, better known as Sinopec, Tianjin refinery will be able to produce 120,000 tonnes of ethanol gasoline per month by October, it said today.
Editor: Mevlut Katik