ACEA releases Fifth Edition of Worldwide Fuel Charter

25 September 2013

Representing vehicle and engine manufacturers from around the world, ACEA and the Worldwide Fuel Charter Committee released the Fifth Edition of the Worldwide Fuel Charter.

The Fifth Edition introduces Category 5 gasoline and diesel fuels for markets with highly advanced requirements for emission control and fuel efficiency. For diesel fuel, Category 5 establishes a high quality hydrocarbon-only specification that allows certain advanced biofuels—including hydro-treated vegetable oil (HVO) and biomass-to-liquid (BTL), provided all other specifications are respected and the resulting blend meets defined legislated limits—while disallowing ester-based biodiesel (fatty acid methyl esters, FAME).

For gasoline, Category 5 raises the minimum research octane number (RON) to 95 to enable some gasoline technologies that can help increase vehicle and engine efficiency.

Other changes from the previous edition include a new test method for trace metals and an updated gasoline volatility table. Several changes relate to biodiesel: the Charter now allows up to 5% biodiesel by volume in Category 4 diesel fuel, has new diesel fuel oxidation stability limits and includes an alternative oxidation stability test method with correlations to other methods. The Charter also now references the E100 and B100 Guidelines published by the World Wide Fuel Charter Committee in 2009.

The Committee appreciated the many comments submitted to the consultation version of this new edition of the Charter.

The Charter was first established in 1998 to increase understanding of the fuel quality needs of motor vehicle and engine technologies and to promote fuel quality harmonization worldwide. The Charter matches fuel specifications to the vehicle and engine specifications required to meet various emission requirements and customer needs around the world.

Source: ACEA