MEXICO CITY (Reuters)
A Mexican judge granted a provisional suspension against modifications to a local regulation that opened the door containing up to 10% of ethanol in gasoline in Mexico, one of the environmental promoters of the measure said.
Politician Gabriel Quadri said the judge's decision announced Wednesday, limited ethanol content to a maximum of 5.8%, according to a previous filing with the court.
It also suspends the new vapor pressure limit on gasoline that set the new standard and leaves it as it was in the previous regulation, which would make it difficult to use 10% ethanol in gasoline, Quadri said.
"This amparo suit was filed precisely to prevent CRE (Energy Regulatory Commission) from over-riding the environmental rights of all Mexicans in order to satisfy the commercial interests of the ethanol lobby of the United States," he said Quadri a Reuters.
"Ethanol, according to all scientific studies, has a greater ozone generation potential than its own gasoline or other petrochemical additives," he added.
Lee: Hacienda will "ease" the price of gasoline in 2018.
The CRE published the end of June amendments to the NOM-016 that raised the content of 10% ethanol in gasoline but not in diesel, despite opposition from environmentalists who claim to raise pollution.
The measure announced by the CRE excludes the metropolitan areas of the Valley of Mexico, of Guadalajara, in the west of the country, and the area of Monterrey, in the north.
