Low-Carbon Fuel Quality ASTM Standard

The standard will apply to fuels like ethanol, which until now have only seen regional specifications.

Feb 26, 2026

ASTM International’s petroleum products, liquid fuels, and lubricants committee (D02) has created a specification that will act as the first global standard for low-carbon fuel quality.

This standard, designated D8651, will apply to fuels like ethanol, which until now have only seen regional specifications. The standard will support decarbonization of global transportation by addressing global trade, production, and movement of low-carbon fuels.

Ethanol has been blended into gasoline for decades to improve air quality, but it can now also provide a clean source of octane boost. It is a key low-carbon, renewable fuel used by nearly 60 countries worldwide, with many new countries adopting it. Kristy Moore, chair of the D02.93 coordinating subcommittee on international standards and related activities, emphasizes that this new specification will have broad benefits through ethanol alone, given how accessible its feedstocks are.

“This document is the first of its kind to detail specific expectations of quality for undenatured fuel ethanol, and the first created specifically to meet a global market need,” says Moore. “As countries around the world adopt low carbon fuels programs, they need a fuel specification for undenatured fuel ethanol. A specification can make for a global fungible fuel, ease import and export trade, and guide manufacturers on the qualities of ethanol necessary for the fuels market.”

Moore also notes that the standard supports U.N. Sustainable Development Goal #7 on affordable and clean energy, because ethanol meeting the standard can be used both as a transportation fuel and a clean cooking fuel.

ASTM welcomes participation in the development of its standards. Join ASTM.