Is fuel tax required when methanol is added to gasoline as a fuel, and what are the standards related to methanol-based gasoline?
Thread Content
Methanol is used as a blending component for fuel oils and is added to gasoline in certain proportions (such as M15, M85, etc.) for sale as fuel. Standards for methanol-based gasoline are also set to be introduced soon. So, does methanol, as a component of fuel oils, need to be subject to fuel taxes? The following are some excerpts from Baidu and HaiChuan forums regarding the standards for methanol gasoline: 1. Heilongjiang Province establishes standards for vehicle-use methanol gasoline: http://news.sohu.com/20060331/n242565327.shtml 2. Standards for methanol gasoline are on the horizon: http://bbs.hcbbs.com/redirect.php?fid=227&tid=211853&goto=nextoldset 3. There is growing demand for the legalization of methanol gasoline: http://bbs.hcbbs.com/viewthread.php?tid=361129 4. Standards for methanol gasoline: http://bbs.hcbbs.com/viewthread.php?tid=195142 5. Zhejiang plans to promote the use of methanol gasoline in Hangzhou, Huzhou and other areas next year: http://bbs.hcbbs.com/viewthread.php?tid=350670 6. Shaanxi has the best conditions in the country to promote methanol gasoline due to its technical advantages: http://auto.sina.com.cn/news/2009-03-19/0844472764.shtml This post was last edited by ygx2000 on 2009-3-20 at 16:08
The standards for methanol gasoline** were delayed in being introduced. In 2008, the highly anticipated standards for methanol gasoline** still failed to be released despite repeated calls for their establishment. By the end of the year, the draft text for the M85 standard for methanol-based gasoline was approved by the National Alkyl Ether Fuels Subcommittee of the Standards Committee; it is now awaiting approval from the Standards Committee itself ； The 80,000-kilometer road test of M15 methanol gasoline conducted by the Shanghai Internal Combustion Engine Research Institute is expected to be completed in the first half of 2009. Industry insiders say that the **standard for M85 methanol gasoline, which was supposed to be announced by the end of 2008. The main reason for the delay is the lack of appropriate management regulations. Issues such as safety management rules for methanol fuel, quality standards for methanol fuel, packaging standards, criteria for establishing fuel stations, and emission standards for exhaust gases all need to be further detailed. In the second half of 2008, the shortage of gasoline and diesel ended, and the urgency to use methanol as a substitute for them gradually diminished; as a result, the amount of methanol used purely for profit-making purposes decreased significantly starting from that second half of the year. The implementation of some domestic local standards has seen an increase. In addition to Shanxi Province, which has already fully implemented methanol gasoline, 14 other provinces and municipalities including Henan, Shaanxi, Sichuan, and Heilongjiang have also begun to adopt it, with Zhejiang being among them. In the first quarter of 2009, Zhejiang initially planned to introduce M15 methanol gasoline in pilot cities such as Hangzhou, Huzhou, Jinhua, and Quzhou. By then, each city will have 10–20 methanol gasoline stations, and its use will first be promoted in government vehicles, vehicles used by public institutions, taxis, and buses in Zhejiang Province. Increased promotion efforts help support the consumption of methanol gasoline as an alternative fuel.