Gasoline - Gasohol: Blending Fuel in Thailand Pt.1

First and foremost, I think most of us have heard of both term "Gasoline" & "Gasohol", and sometimes they are used interchangeably. However, the truth is gasoline and gasohol differ vastly in their composition. Gasoline is the fuel coming out of refinery distillation process alone (of course after blending all "fossil fuel components" together - like Naphtha that we discussed in the last article). On the other hand, gasohol is a blend of gasoline and "ethanol", which is a biofuel produced ethanol plants.

The creation of gasohol was due largely from 2 reasons: carbon emission reduction and demand support on local agriculture. And Thailand is no exception. Under the Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP), the Thai government mandates the use of ethanol-blended fuels, including Gasohol E10, E20, and E85. The regulations set minimum ethanol blending requirements, with ethanol sourced from domestic agricultural products like sugarcane and cassava. Initially, this action by the government was incentivized by the affordable price of ethanol that was lower than gasoline (pure fossil fuel). But with market condition that has changed over the years, the ethanol price has rose and resulted in gasohol price that consequently (& unnecessarily) increased.

But Gasoline/Gasohol are not the only fuel with blending process. In the next article, we will cover Diesel and its blended variants, which are arguably the most critical fuel products in Oil & Gas industry.