OCI N.V. (Euronext: OCI) today announced that it has reached an agreement with Esso Petroleum Company, Limited (Esso), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, to supply a biofuel alcohol mix consisting of bio-methanol and ethanol, which will be blended with Esso’s standard Synergy grade petrol sold in the United Kingdom.
The superior performance provided by OCI’s alcohol mix enables its customers to exceed mandated biofuel blending targets set by the UK and the EU without the introduction of a new fuel standard such as E10. OCI’s bio-methanol is an advanced biofuel that reduces greenhouse gas emissions compared to conventional petrol.
Bio-methanol has a number of advantages:
- Unlike ethanol which is primarily derived from food crops such as corn, wheat or sugar, bio-methanol is an advanced, second generation biofuel derived from bio-methane sourced from organic waste put into municipal landfills or anaerobic digesters. As such, in addition to the advantage that the use of bio-methanol results in lower consumption of fossil fuels, it provides an outlet for bio-waste, contributing to the circular economy and reducing methane emissions into the atmosphere.
- Traditional methanol derived from natural gas has already long been used in auto racing to boost octane and deliver superior engine performance. Bio-methanol delivers the same benefits, while offering greenhouse gas (GHG) savings of more than 60% versus petrol derived from fossil fuels (volume for volume).
Ahmed El-Hoshy, Chief Executive Officer of OCI NV, commented: “Through our cooperation with ExxonMobil, we aim to promote the use of bio-methanol as a complimentary biofuel alongside ethanol to reduce the carbon intensity of road transportation fuels. Fuel blending is currently the main market for bio-methanol due to increasing regulatory requirements, but we see many opportunities in new applications, where this versatile product can be used as an environmentally friendly building block for products such as cosmetics, building materials and paints.”
Pat Rutherford, Esso’s manager of UK sales said: “We believe this project demonstrates how advanced liquid fuels can play a significant role in the decarbonisation of the nation’s road transport system. Most standard Synergy petrol sold in the UK now contains this advanced biofuel blend.”
OCI is the pioneer and global leader in bio-methanol, which is produced at its methanol facilities in the Netherlands and the United States
