THE GOVERNMENT has apparently backed away from an announcement by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, making it mandatory for motor vehicle fuel to contain 10 per cent ethanol by September.

Instead, Energy Minister Clive Mullings yesterday said there would be a phased roll-out of the E10/87 octane gasolene starting November 1. This, he said, would culminate in a government mandate for nationwide use of the fuel by April, 2009.

The prime minister's announcement last Sunday at the Denbigh Agricultural Show was met with scepticism from several local energy experts, who labelled the plan as rushed and impractical.

unrealistic deadline

The Jamaica Gasolene Retailers' Association argued that a September deadline would be unrealistic as preliminary work, such as cleaning and washing of the island's petrol stations, was yet to be done.

However a release from the ministry yesterday stated that the E10/87 project would be launched on a phased basis in service stations served by local refinery Petrojam's Kingston terminal.

This would also be based on the technical readiness for storage and delivery of the product at the island's stations.

According to the ministry, all cars manufactured after 1985 will operate efficiently on E10. Only a minimum type of adjustment would be required for pre-1985 vehicles.

In announcing the project last week, Golding said the decision came against the backdrop of the new trading arrangements that will govern the export of sugar to Europe, which comes into effect next year.

guaranteed access

The prime minister said while Jamaica would still have guaranteed access to the European market, it no longer enjoyed a guaranteed price.

Golding said the agreement with Infinity Bio-Energy of Brazil would see less of the country's sugarcane going into sugar and more into ethanol.

Infinity Bio-Energy bought the struggling Sugar Company of Jamaica in June.

The phase in of E10 is being done concurrently with the phase out of MTBE, the petroleum-based octane enhancer currently being used in gasolene.

The project is a partnership between the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica.