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Ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE) has been used as a high octane blending component since the early 1990's. However the strong interest in renewable energy has led to a dramatic increase in its use. This has also resulted in a substantial number of technical studies being carried out around the world to assess its performance with respect to vehicle performance, distribution system compatibility, environmental impact and toxicology. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive, up to date review of these data. Particular focus will be given to its positive impact on CO2 emissions.

Research Octane Number (RON) and Motor Octane Number (MON) are used to describe gasoline combustion which describe antiknock performance under different conditions. Recent literature suggests that MON is less important than RON in modern cars and a relaxation in the MON specification could improve vehicle performance. At the same time, for the same octane number change, increasing RON appears to provide more benefit to engine power and acceleration than reducing MON. Some workers have advocated the use of an octane index (OI) which incorporates both parameters instead of either RON or MON to give an indication of gasoline knock resistance. Previous Concawe work investigated the effect of RON and MON on the power and acceleration performance of two Euro 4 gasoline passenger cars during an especially-designed acceleration test cycle.