Ethanol Keeps Gasoline Prices Down

Biofuels Engine Design, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Agency/Executive Branch, Federal Regulation, Infrastructure, Ohio, Opinions, Policy

February 29, 2016

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by Fred Yoder (The Columbus Dispatch/Ohio Corn and Wheat Growers Association) When the original renewable fuel standard was passed in 2005, gasoline manufacturers were under heavy pressure to do something about the contamination of thousands of groundwater sources from using methyl tertiary butyl ether as the oxygenate to conform with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s regulations for cleaner burning fuel.

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But in any case, burning ethanol with gasoline leaves our air in better shape than without it, if you simply consider its ability to enrich the oxygen content in our gasoline.

As far as being able to buy gasoline without ethanol, it could be available if we were willing to pay a higher price. But most people are not willing to pay a premium for pure gasoline because the oxygenate must come from much more expensive aromatics derived from oil.

Removing the renewable-fuel-standard mandate would make gasoline prices go up by giving oil companies the option to use more expensive petroleum-derived oxygenates, which they would create from their own feedstock. READ MORE

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