Where Does Gasoline Come From?

Topping up on gasoline is fairly easy一you only need to drive up to the nearest gas station, pop up the small door that leads to the tank, and put the pump right in.

But how exactly do gas stations get gas?

From the Ground to Your Tank: The Gasoline Production Process

Gas doesn’t magically appear in fuel stations. There’s a lengthy process before fuel makes it into the pump, and it all begins with crude oil.

From the Ground Up

Crude oil is a raw and natural resource that’s found underground or in underwater reservoirs.

Crude oil is a petroleum product containing hydrocarbon deposits and other organic compounds that were formed from the remains of animals and plants.

These animals and plants were eventually covered in layers of sand, rocks, silt, and other natural elements and underwent immense heat and pressure that turned them into fossil fuels.

Crude oil can be sourced from various parts of the globe. In the US, most refineries use a mix of domestic and foreign crude oil.

The Refining Process

Barrels of crude oil are delivered to refineries after they’ve been extracted from reservoirs.

Before it reaches the pump, crude oil has to be refined into finished motor gasoline via the fractional distillation process.

Fractional distillation is the method of separating a liquid mixture into various components. These components have specific boiling points and vapor pressures, so a temperature gradient is needed to kickstart the distillation process.

In the case of crude oil, the fractional distillation process begins with heating the oil to its boiling point at approximately 600℃. The vapor produced is then injected into a distillation tower, which will separate the vapor into various raw materials.

Refined gasoline and petroleum products are sent through shared pipelines, which increases the probability of these compounds getting mixed. This is also one of the reasons why only a few petroleum products are used immediately after the distillation process.

Gasoline and petroleum products that come out of these pipelines must be tested to see if they meet the required specifications.

If a product fails to meet local, state, and federal specifications, it’ll be sent back to a refinery for additional processing.

A Quick Trip to Blending Terminals

Gasoline products essentially start out the same way for every manufacturer. The only difference is the type of additives they put in before distributing these products to fuel stations.

Tanker trucks send gasoline to various blending terminals where manufacturers inject special additive packages, creating their branded gasoline products in the process.

Most manufacturers also blend fuel ethanol into their gasoline products before they’re distributed to fuel stations.

The Last Stop: Where Is Gas Stored at Gas Stations?

Finally, gasoline products are distributed to service and fuel stations where they’re stored in underground tanks.

The Shift to Alternative Fuels

Crude oil is a non-renewable and limited resource. And unfortunately, it’s something that’s consumed faster than its production rate.

World leaders know this all too well, which is why a lot of countries have begun to shift to alternative fuels.

Aside from reducing harmful exhaust emissions, using alternative fuels also helps in conserving fossil fuels for the years to come.

Here are some of the most common alternative fuels used today.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel is a type of renewable fuel sourced from vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled cooking grease.

Biodiesel helps reduce pollutants like particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and hydrocarbons.

This type of alternative fuel typically has the following features:

• Decreases fuel costs when purchased in bulk.
• Maintains the same horsepower, torque, and fuel economy of a vehicle.
• Increases engine performance due to a higher cetane number than regular diesel.
• Non-toxic and safe to handle, transport, and store.
• Doubles as a lubricant for metal parts.

Electricity

Energy sources such as natural gas, coal, nuclear energy, wind energy, hydropower, and solar energy can produce electricity.

Vehicles that rely heavily on electricity mostly draw power from a battery pack that can operate for a certain amount of distance on a single charge.

Some vehicles generate electrical power through regenerative braking.

Maintaining electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids are generally more cost-effective than driving gasoline-powered ones. However, EVs may cost more than conventional gas-powered vehicles.

Hydrogen

Hydrogen (or water) becomes a type of alternative fuel when used in a fuel cell. It’s a zero tailpipe emissions alternative fuel that can be obtained via steam reforming一a process of extracting hydrogen by combining high-temperature steam with natural gas.

Light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles can generally top up at fuel stations in less than five minutes. On a full tank, these vehicles can run up to 300 miles.

Natural Gas

Natural gas is an odorless mix of hydrocarbons, and it makes up about 30% of the energy supply in the US.

Natural gas in the US is still considered to be a type of fossil fuel, but recent developments in alternative fuel studies have been able to introduce the concept of renewable natural gas (RNG).

Renewable natural gas is also known as biomethane, which is purified biogas.

More than 175,000 vehicles in the US run on natural gas. Natural gas-powered vehicles enjoy the same amounts of horsepower, cruise speed, and acceleration as gasoline-powered cars but with the added benefit of less greenhouse gas emissions.

Ethanol

Ethanol is a type of renewable fuel made from corn and other plants. Most gasoline blends already have ethanol in them but in varying amounts.

Flexible fuel vehicles run well on any type of gasoline with an ethanol blend of up to 83%. According to a report in 2021, there are approximately 27 million flex-fuel vehicles in the US that can run on ethanol-heavy gasoline.

Increased ethanol levels in gasoline, however, significantly affect fuel economy. The tradeoff is that flexible fuel vehicles running on ethanol-heavy gasoline can have improved acceleration performance.