Join SGS INSPIRE on Northern Crops Institute’s “Everything Ethanol” webinar series on December 21, 2022.
The Northern Crops Institute (NCI) webinar series focuses on advancing global ethanol market development and covers a variety of topics, including ethanol marketing factors, policies around the world, human health and ethanol, and more.
In this month’s “Everything Ethanol” edition, Henry Gomez, Market Analyst at SGS INSPIRE will be presenting on “Best Practices for the Ocean-Borne Bulk Transportation of Fuel Ethanol” on December 21, 2022.
Background
Ethanol is perceived as a short- to medium-term transition ‘near drop-in’ fuel to be used in conjunction with conventional gasoline components. It is attractive, primarily due to the well-established technology and low toxicity.
In global trade, ethanol is mostly transported by ocean as a single component, for economic and technical reasons. However, there are very specific instances where ethanol-gasoline mixtures have been transported by ocean. These instances are marginal and cover special circumstances, such as military applications and disaster relief missions requiring a fast transportation of blended fuel.
The standard practice is to transport ethanol separately as far as possible along the supply chain, until ethanol is splash blended with gasoline before being delivered to the end user. This is to minimize the likelihood of phase separation in the gasoline/ethanol mixtures. Therefore, wherever possible, the mixing takes place at the last bulk terminal before the final delivery to end user.
SGS trade flow data indicates that the U.S. ethanol has been predominantly exported from the East and Gulf coast ports. The main export markets are Asia (India, South Korea, China, Philippines), Americas (Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Peru), and Europe (the Netherlands, United Kingdom). However, as biofuels become more widely used as a part of the energy transition and CO2 reduction initiatives, SGS INSPIRE expects more markets will open.
Many factors need to be considered to manage the risk associated with transporting ethanol by ships. The most important is to reduce/alleviate contamination from water along the supply chain.
To learn how to manage these risks, please join us on the webinar by registering here.
About SGS INSPIRE
SGS INSPIRE is the world’s largest and unique digital pool of information on transportation, fuel quality and powertrain emissions. It provides regulatory and market intelligence with global outreach, technical expertise in analysis of policies related to conventional and alternative fuels, global digital fuels specifications database and worldwide fuel quality samples analysis.
Northern Crops Institute (NCI)
Northern Crops Institute (NCI) is a collaborative effort among Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota to support the promotion and market development of crops grown in this four-state region. NCI is an international meeting and learning center that brings together customers, commodity traders, technical experts, and processors for discussion, education, and technical services.