In the News
NORTHBROOK, Ill., August 10, 2009 --
Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a world leader in
product safety testing services, announced today a new certification
path for fuel dispensers for mid-level ethanol blends up to E25.
With the new certification path, manufacturers of dispensers,
assemblies and components now have three certification options to
choose from to balance market needs and provide maximum flexibility
as advances are made in the fuel industry.
"The development of renewable energies continues to evolve at a
rapid pace and we understand the need for future innovation, cost
effectiveness and getting product to market quickly; however, public
safety must remain paramount," said Jeff Smidt, General Manager
Global Energy Business for UL. "We now have multiple certification
paths available for fuel dispensers that will provide not only for
public safety, but also future blend flexibility for dispenser
manufacturers. We feel with this additional certification path, we
have addressed current and future industry needs."
More>>
IRS Extends Deadline for Meeting ASTM D6751-2008 Biodiesel
Standard
A
newly revised American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM)
D6751-08 biodiesel quality standard took effect on October 13,
2008. Under the IRS code, only biodiesel that conforms to the
revised ASTM D6751-08 standard is eligible for the current one
dollar per gallon federal biodiesel tax credit. In order to smooth
the transition to the revised standard, the IRS (IRS Notice
2008-110) allowed product meeting the old ASTM D6751 quality
standard - in effect before October 13, 2008 – to continue to
qualify for the federal biodiesel tax credit until April 1, 2009.
The IRS issued an announcement this week (IRS Notice 2009-34) that
the April 1, 2009 transition deadline for conformance with the
revised ASTM D6751 is being extended to October 1, 2009.
Read more
Status Update: Clarification
of Ethanol Certification Limits for Legacy Equipment
(December
2008) Recent articles in the media and technical references
regarding permissible ethanol blends and blend limits
associated with Underwriters Laboratories (UL)
certifications have generated a lot of questions and led to
confusion. Discussions about blended fuels are certainly
complicated, especially as the topic continues to evolve.
With political and industry focus on possibly increasing
ethanol content for commonly used gasohol blends, UL would
like to clarify limitations associated with current UL
listings to the standard UL 87.
UL
listed gasoline dispensers—those legacy dispensers currently
in service and used most often in gas stations around the
country today—are certified under UL 87 and authorized for
dispensing blends up to 10% ethanol, or E10. Because UL
often uses safety margins during testing, some subassemblies
have been tested with fuels containing 15% ethanol (leading
to some technical references to this level; but that does
not mean that those dispensers are certified to dispense
fuels containing greater than 10% ethanol).
UL is
currently working with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on its
ongoing research to investigate the impact of using higher
ethanol blends in current legacy vehicles and engine systems
(that were not originally designed for use with ethanol
blend levels above E10). If new federal guidelines are
established that approve higher ethanol blend levels for
public use, UL will review products currently certified
under UL 87 to determine whether UL can provide data
enabling the authorities having jurisdiction to approve such
use.
UL
did announce the establishment of new safety requirements
for higher ethanol fuel-blend dispensing equipment on
October 16, 2007. These requirements (Subject UL 87A) are
available to manufacturers looking to get their equipment
tested and certified for ethanol fuel blends greater than
10% and up to 85%. This means that dispensing equipment
evaluated to the requirements in Subject 87A would be
considered to be acceptable for dispensing blends with any
ethanol content up to 85%. UL will continue to test and
certify new equipment to these higher-level blends as we
work with the DOE and EPA regarding legacy systems.
For
more information, visit the
UL Web site.
