” as ZERA remain adamant ”
By Lloyd Takawira
Motorists are crying foul over the decision by the Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory Authority (Zera) to revert back to E20 through the back door despite the 5th of Decembers announcement that they were reducing the amount of ethanol to 10%.
Motorists who spoke to this publication expressed unhappiness with E20 with many blaming E20 to many mechanical faults.
Malfin from Acadia who deals in car modification said that most of his clients are coming complaining of this ratio. People are complaining of the fuel ratio and also that it is the cause of many motor vehicle mechanical faults, ” he said.
Garikayi who specializes with car pumps at Chikwanha Guzha business centre concurred with Melfin’s utterances.”The level of ethanol in these fuels dzamazuvano ndondava mota dzirikufa , not only that fuel yacho haigari ” said Garikai.
However ZERA doused those allegations saying the low energy density of blended fuel is compensated for in the price.
“Zimbabwe has blended petrol with ethanol since colonial days and only stopped in 1992 due to a severe drought then. Blending was resumed in 2013 and has been implemented continuously since then,” Zera acting chief executive officer Eddington Mazambani told the Media
“There has been a perception of lower fuel economy of E20 blend by some motorists. The fact is the slightly lower energy density of blended petrol is compensated for in the blend fuel price.”
Since earlier last year, motorists have complained that petrol which is being disbursed at the pump stations was finishing faster and at the same time damaging their vehicles leading many to believe that
These fears were stoked by Zera, who announced on December 5, 2019, that the ethanol blending ratios had been reduced to 10% only to revert to 20%.
In May 2019, the ethanol blending ratio was 10%.
“The Minister of Energy and Power Development may from time to time grant an exception from blending unleaded petrol in exceptional circumstances. Some of these circumstances include production and availability of ethanol for blending,” Mazambani said.
“The Petroleum (Mandatory Blending of Anhydrous Ethanol with Unleaded Petrol) Regulations, 2013 (SI 147A) stipulates that from 31 March 2014, no fuel procurement licensee, wholesale licensee or retail licensee shall sell unleaded petrol to end users unless that petrol has been blended with 20% locally produced anhydrous ethanol being E20.”
An American car activist group Environmental Working Group (EWG), in 2009 found out that a blending ratio of E15 or 15% was disastrous to old vehicles.
“Optimal vehicle performance, durability, and emissions require an effective match among engine design, vehicle emission controls and cleaner-burning fuels. Technological breakthroughs achieved in the last decade brought to the market a new generation of low-emission vehicles able to adapt to a wide range of fuels. But older, legacy vehicles constitute a significant portion of the current fleet (in America at the time),” reads part of the paper.
