OWN CORRESPONDENT in Johannesburg | Friday 9.00pm.
OIL-from-coal producer Sasol on Friday announced plans to blend alcohol with its petrol before the end of the year. The move, Sasol spokesman Alfonso Niemand said, could both “alleviate the imminent petrol shortage in the country” and save R260-million a year in foreign exchange.
Announcing the plans Niemand said Sasol will be blending alcohol with some of its 93 octane leaded petrol in Gauteng and parts of the Free State, Northern Province and Mpumalanga from October 1. A maximum of 12% alcohol — containing at least 85% ethanol — will be used.
In line with international ecological trends, the blend will “include an increase in octane number and a reduction of harmful exhaust emissions, such as carbon monoxide, smog-forming hydrocarbons, sulphur oxides and lead,” Sasol said.
The use of ethanol in petrol will have the added benefit of reducing South Africa’s dependence on imported crude oil, a potential saving in foreign exchange of R260-million a year, Niemand said.
Sasol
16